More than 90% of local authorities do not yet have an EV charging infrastructure strategy in place, according to a recent poll by operator Believ.
According to the polling, councils said that time was the biggest barrier, with almost two-thirds (63%) citing it. This was followed by a lack of funding (40%}) and also councillor pushback, although the numbers were very small for the latter, at only 6%.
Almost all who were surveyed (98%) expected it would take more than 12 months to roll-out charging infrastructure across their area.
The study of councils reflects evidence from last year by Believ that found only 14% of councils had dedicated resource for implementing new EV infrastructure. It also discovered a lack of funding and guidance from central government for local authorities, which meant councils only allocated 15 hours a week to EV projects.
At present, the government has a target to hit 300,000 public charge points by 2030 with the need for local authorities to accelerate their plans to enable residents to switch to electric.
Perran Moon, Interim CEO at Believ, said the recent findings are reflective of the situation on the ground and a lack of urgency in the roll out of vital EV infrastructure.
He said: “Our findings suggest that there is still clearly a hesitancy due to lack of time and lack funding by local authorities to begin the process of rolling out charge point infrastructure. And crucially, local authority’s need the support, expertise, and guidance from charge point operators.
“Our fully funded model means that we can offer publicly accessible EV infrastructure that is installed, maintained, and operated by us, to give councils back precious time and resources. CPOs like ours are geared up and ready to deliver all charge point speeds at scale and pace, wherever and whenever local authorities are ready to commit.”
Image courtesy of Believ
