The UK is lagging behind Europe on electric vehicle charging infrastructure, creating a barrier to widespread EV adoption, research by Delta-ee has found.
The specialist new energy research and consulting company carried out a study of infrastructure in the UK, as well as in countries such as France, the Netherlands, Germany and Norway.
One of its key findings was that three-quarters of German users enjoy the fastest rate of home charging of 22kW or higher. The same power level is available to only 20% of British drivers.
Alexander Lewis-Jones, EVs and electricity product manager at Delta-ee, said: “Residential electricity supply on the continent lends itself much better to high-power uses such as fast home EV charging than in the UK.
“Our reliance on single-phase supply could hold us back in the future.
“Twelve-hour overnight charges are one thing, but as the EV transition gathers pace and battery sizes grow – and we potentially pivot to electrified heating too – this may become a cause for regret.”
The UK had the lowest proportion of EV drivers using three-pin plug sockets to charge cars at 22% and the highest proportion using dedicated charging points for home charging (73%).
Lewis Jones said this is evidence that UK government’s grant scheme for home charging points has been a success. The future of the plug-in grants will be revealed in the autumn.
He added: “ The other side of the coin is public charging infrastructure. The reality is drivers won’t go electric until the public infrastructure is in place, but if we get it right, it could also compensate for any shortcomings in UK home-charging.
“However, as it stands, the UK is an archipelago of unconnected public charging islands, which is not the case on the continent.
“Our data shows that, if the UK is serious about being a leader in the EV transition, we need to invest strategically and work collaboratively with the customer’s journey at the front of our mind.”
Recent analysis by Deloitte found that the UK will need 28,000 new charge points in order to service an estimated seven million electric vehicles by 2030.
The research suggests delivering this infrastructure will cost some £1.6 billion between 2020 and 2030.
Rolec passes 1,000 charge point milestone for Kia
Rolec has confirmed it has supplied more than 1,000 EV charging points to Kia Motor UK’s head office, dealership network and domestic EV customers.
Kia required a nationwide charging network to be deployed across more than 160 dealerships and offices, as well as the facility to offer home charge point installations to its EV customers.
To meet this requirements, Rolec EV designed, manufacturers and project managed the installations of a range of Kia-branded charging pedestals and WallPod chargers.
Rolec has recently been appointed by DPD to design and provide a smart electric vehicle charging network across more than 60 sites nationwide.
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Andrew Ryan is the features editor at Fleet News. He has been a journalist for more than 20 years and has specialised in the fleet industry for the past 12.
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