The electric vehicle charging specialist Connected Kerb has announced ambitious plans to deploy 190,000 EV chargers by 2030 as part of a £1.9bn rollout to “level up” access to EV charging in the UK.
This investment will help tackle inequality around electric vehicle charging by giving tens of millions of drivers without off-street parking the opportunity to switch to an EV. It will also support mass market charging for workplaces and fleets.
Currently there are around 1,000 publicly accessible on-street chargers outside of London and just one for every 52 EVs on UK roads. Those without off-street parking or a dedicated parking space account for 62% of drivers.
In response to this, Connected Kerb has confirmed new contracts for 10,000 on-street chargers in 2021 alone. These will primarily be deployed on streets, car parks and at community facilities across West Sussex and Kent.
West Sussex Council’s tender will be the largest ever deployment by a UK local authority giving residents the confidence to go electric in time for the 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel vehicles.
Other councils where chargers will be installed include Coventry, Cambridge, Milton Keynes and Plymouth.
Next year, a further 30,000 chargers are expected to be installed around the country.
Dr Chris Pateman-Jones, chief executive of Connected Kerb, said: “Knowing you can arrive at virtually any location, at any time, in any vehicle and cheaply charge your battery without inconvenience or faff is the reality we have to deliver to create an EV society.
“Our rollout of public chargers – one of the most ambitious the UK has ever seen – encapsulates that future, helping individuals and businesses to confidently make the switch to electric, reducing their carbon footprint and cutting air pollution.”
Councils are perfectly placed to rapidly deploy public on-street charging across the UK because, in many cases, it does not cost them anything to do so. The UK government’s Office for Zero Emission Vehicles meets 75% of the cost of an installation through the On-Street Residential Charging Scheme (ORCS), with Connected Kerb then covering the remaining 25% of the cost.
Since 1st July 2021, the ORCS has funded the installation of 1,459 public charging devices with 3,200 scheduled to be installed in the near future.
Transport minister Trudy Harrison said: “It's great to see Connected Kerb and local authorities working together as the Government commits £2.5bn towards electric vehicle grants and the development of EV infrastructure in our towns and cities.”