Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has responded to the recent news about the UK hitting 75,000 public chargepoints, describing it as a “landmark day”.
Alexander’s comments follow the news last week that the UK had installed its 75,000th charger, as it aims to accelerate towards the overall goal of around 300,000 by 2030.
The Department for Transport said that public chargers were being rolled out at around one every 29 minutes at the present rate, with the growth sitting alongside the 680,000 domestic points that have also been installed at the present time.
It also said a further 100,000 on-street and local chargers will be rolled out in the coming years in smaller towns and rural areas through the £381m from the Department’s Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund (LEVI). The £6bn investment in the pipeline for rural chargepoint investment from the private sector was also highlighted.
In addition, the government was keen to stress that “consumer confidence in EVs is clear,” and referenced that February was a record month for EVs sales, with one in four of all cars sold electric, and the UK was the largest EV market in Europe in 2024 with over 382,000 EVs sold – up a fifth on the previous year.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said:
“Today is a landmark day in our EV transition. With prices coming down, new models constantly introduced on the market, and a public charging network expanding at lightning speed, there’s never been a better time to make the switch to an EV.
“We’re not stopping here – with both Government and private investment, the number of chargers will continue to grow. This means everyone can get around with the confidence they’re always a very short drive from a charger, as we continue to support jobs, drive investment and power growth as part of our Plan for Change.”
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