ChargeUK: Charging infrastructure offers economic growth potential

Ahead of the Budget, ChargeUK CEO Vicky Read has called for the UK Government to seize the economic prize of net zero transport through investing in charging infrastructure.

It’s the Budget on Wednesday and the prize of a successful transition to net zero transport is there for the taking. The SMMT says the automotive sector “has the potential to deliver an economic boost worth more than £50 billion during the next decade”, as it undergoes the shift to zero emission vehicles.

CBI Economics calculates that “the UK economy could see a £16.1 billion increase in GVA by 2035” as automotive electrifies. And Roland Berger predicts 16,000 EV jobs secured or created in auto manufacturing and 10,000+ jobs in EV charging by 2030.

Key to securing these jobs and growth is investment in charging infrastructure. Why? Because before drivers can switch, they need to know they can charge conveniently and affordably. Without chargers, the EV transition cannot happen.

This investment will principally come from the private sector and ChargeUK’s members have committed £6bn through to 2030. This commitment has already delivered 70,000 public chargers and 42% annual growth. But this momentum will need to continue for at least the next decade to build what’s required.

So how can the UK shore up that £6bn? As ChargeUK outlined in our manifesto, charging operators need delivery barriers removed and costs outside their control addressed, so they can roll out affordable charging at pace.

But above all else, to keep investing the sector needs to know that if it builds the chargers, the fully electric vehicles are going to come. This scale of investment is not possible on a wing and a prayer.

This is why the ZEV mandate – the legislation that requires car manufacturers to meet EV sales targets (and that has built-in flexibilities to enable those targets to be met) – needs to stay strong, even if it is regarded by some as challenging. This mandate is the bedrock on which that £6bn of charging investment, and therefore the UK’s move to greener transportation, is built.

It’s also why the Government needs to do all it can to help drivers to switch to EVs, whether new, second-hand or fleet. That means protecting the incentives that are working – such as salary sacrifice – and seriously considering the other “carrots” the industry has said will help those EVs to sell.

So, in Wednesday’s Budget and as other key decisions are taken about transport decarbonisation in the coming weeks, the charging sector needs clear signals from the Government that the UK will support its investment, because there is a huge amount riding on it.

Not just the tens of thousands of jobs in charging itself and its supply chain of manufacturers, software and payment providers, construction companies and energy networks: the entire transition to EVs is dependent on charging investment and with it cleaner air, the UK’s net zero goals and all the economic benefits that flow from an electrified automotive sector.

Image of Vicky Read courtesy of ChargeUK