GRIDSERVE question motorway charging progress report
New research has suggested the government will not hit its target of six or more rapid or ultra-rapid electric vehicle (EV) charging points at a motorway service area in England by the end of 2023 – but GRIDSERVE has said it will hit its target for its areas.
The news, which comes from an RAC study, found only a quarter – around 23% – of the 119 service areas have the target number. According to the RAC, there are 400 high-powered charging units at service areas, creating an average of 3.4, although, as Gridserve pointed out, there are still more than six months until the target needs to be hit.
It also discovered some six motorway services in England are yet to install high-powered chargers, including Leicester Forest on both sides of the M1, Tebay South on the M6, Carlisle Northbound on the M1, Strensham Southbound on the M5 and Barton Park on the A1(M).
But rapid charging operator Gridserve said it was ‘laser focused’ on delivering six or more high-powered chargers at all Moto and Roadchef locations by the end of 2023.
Not straightforward
A spokesperson said: ”This is not straightforward, and there are issues outside of our control, particularly relating to the timeframes for energising new grid connections. However, we have the funding, the supply chains, the partnerships, and the expert teams all in-place to meet GRIDSERVE’s contribution to delivering the Governments 2023 target.
“In fact, GRIDSERVE have already delivered over 70% of the High Power Electric Super Hubs identified in the RAC report, and given we are less than halfway through the year, and we have the considerable momentum with dozens of additional sites in and entering construction over the next few months, at least from GRIDSERVE’s perspective, we would suggest that the RAC report is a little premature.”
The Government’s strategy, published in March last year, said: “We will ensure that every motorway service area has at least six rapid chargers by the end of 2023, with some having more than 12.” Currently, there are only six services in England which have more than 12 such devices, the report said.
Pick up the pace
Quentin Willson, automotive journalist and founder of the EV campaign FairCharge, pointed out that the Tesla network of Superchargers was quickly set – and called to ‘pick up the pace’
He said: “When you look at how quickly Tesla put their Superchargers into the motorway service network, you’re forced to wonder why the Government is working at such glacial speed to do the same. We simply must pick up the pace building a long-range, high-powered charging infrastructure to offer confidence to electric car drivers, the EV market and global investors. Not having enough charging infrastructure is now a major refrain from the anti-EV lobby and is holding back adoption.”
RAC EV spokesperson Simon Williams said: “Our findings show there is much work to be done before the end of the year if the Government’s target of having six high-powered chargers at every motorway service area is to be met. Installing these types of units is not straightforward as connecting to the electricity grid is expensive and time-consuming, but clearly more needs to be done to make this process simpler than it is currently.
“We have long argued that rapid and ultra-rapid charging is vital to give drivers confidence they can make journeys beyond the range of their vehicles in the most time efficient way possible.”
Image courtesy of GRIDSERVE.
