A lack of on-street charging facilities could threaten the uptake of electric cars in Britain according to new research.
UK-based manufacturer of home charge points Andersen analysed Zap-Map data to rank the best and worst areas in the country for access to street chargers – which make up a quarter of the UK's total charging network. The research showed that, on average, each of Britain's 4,453 on-street charging points having to serve 55 cars.
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EV owners in the South West have it particularly bad with just 1,448 plug-in cars per on-street charger in the region. On the other hand, the best region outside of London is the North West with 70 vehicles per charger. London meanwhile percent accounts for 78 of all on-street chargers with an average of just 10 cars per on-street charger.
On-street charging points are especially important because a third of homeowners across the UK don’t have the luxury of a driveway or garage where they can install a home charger, and one-in-six rural homes don't have access to off-street parking, with that figure rising to 60 percent in major cities.
Currently 80 percent of EV owners reportedly have access to a home charging point, but a further 7,200 charging points will be installed by 2021 thanks to a £10 million government investment.
"Electric vehicles are the future of motoring in this country and market share has trebled in the last year with even greater growth forecast over the next 12 months," said Jerome Faissat, commercial director of Andersen. "Even with the pledged Government funding, there is still a huge shortfall in the infrastructure required to serve those who have made the switch so far and is holding others back from making the change.
"A discrepancy in Local Government funding for publicly accessible charging stations is creating a two-tier system in which those living in large properties or illustrious postcodes are better able to benefit from the significant fuel savings and environmental benefits afforded by electric vehicles."
"Andersen’s ethos is that vehicle charging should be an easy and smart process. We want to democratise EV charging and are calling on local authorities to ramp up public infrastructure for those who might not have access to a driveway and are unable to join those who enjoy home charging.
"Our message is clear: If you further accelerate public infrastructure, we can help encourage take up of electric vehicles and make our communities cleaner and safer."