London and South East sees 42% increase in EV charge points

The number of electric vehicle chargepoints across London, the East and South East has increased by 42% in the past year, according to UK Power Networks.

The research found that across the three regions, more than 2,700 chargers have been installed over the past 12 months, taking the total to more than 9,000 chargepoints.

As the company responsible for maintaining the region’s power network, UK Power Networks estimates there will be 4.5 million EVs in the areas it serves by 2030, when sales of new petrol and diesel cars are banned as the UK strives to meet Net Zero by 2050.

Data from the Society of Motor Manufactures and Traders adds that approximately one in six vehicles (17%) sold in June were electric – the highest market share since December (23.4%). There are now about 594,000 EVs in the UK, with an estimated 154,000 in the areas served by UK Power Networks. These numbers don’t include standard home EV chargers which can be installed by an electrician and run off the home mains supply.

Shira Lappin, innovation project lead at UK Power Networks, said: “It’s important that we work with local and central government, charge point operators, customers and other stakeholders to ensure that the transition to Net Zero is a seamless one and everyone has access to the charging infrastructure they need”.

“In the 12-month period between April 2020 and April this year, the number of charge points in our areas grew by 42%. However, there’s still a lot of work to do to meet the growing demand for EVs and charge points, and we’ll continue to be at the forefront of innovation to get there.”

Earlier this year, UK Power Networks launched its Green Recovery programme, consisting of 86 “shovel-ready” green energy infrastructure projects. In total, £66 million is being invested, including enabling 11 motorway service areas to install more than 600 ultra-fast 150kW chargers. This investment, combined with collaborative work across the sector, aims to create the new infrastructure that inspires customers with the confidence to switch to an EV.