DevicePilot, a service monitoring and management platform for EV chargepoint operators, has said that 2021 has been a poor year for EV infrastructure investment and the UK is not ready for universal EV ownership.
As it reveals the results of a Freedom of Information campaign sent to 374 local councils in the UK, DevicePilot has reported while some parts of the country have made investments in EV infrastructure, others have spent nothing, or have received no government funding to do so.
The study found in 2021, 52% of councils spent nothing on EV chargepoints, while nearly two thirds of UK councils (60%) received complaints about the availability, reliability or number of chargingpoints.
Its report showed on average, UK councils received 15% less funding from the government for EV charging infrastructure in the last 12 months compared to the same period in 2020.
London councils spent more than double the national average on EV charging in 2021, investing £204,000, and is already planning to install 39 new chargers per 100,000 people in 2022, compared to a national average of just 9 per 100,000 people.
The average cost of a council-bought chargepoint in the UK is £6,000, although figures range between £350 and £100,000. It estimated the total cost of EV maintenance across the UK is £5.6m.
“Universal EV ownership is not a target, it’s an inevitability,” said Pilgrim Beart, DevicePilot CEO and co-founder.
“In the next ten years, more than half the cars on the road will be electric. To facilitate this transformation, the UK must install tens of thousands of chargepoints reaching every corner of the country.
“EVs are vital to the UK’s carbon emissions targets, but while some parts of the UK are on schedule to meet greater EV demands, others areas lack the funding to do anything whatsoever.”
DevicePilot predicts that 2022 will be a better year for EV investment, with the report finding on average councils are planning to install 52 charging points in their area by the end of 2022, up from 28 in 2021. However it also found nearly half of councils (46%) don’t know how many chargepoints they will install in 2022, or are planning to install zero.
Beart added: “I have a lot of sympathy for councils whose budgets have been stretched to breaking point by the pandemic and budget cuts, but we cannot continue to let the divide between the EV haves and have nots grow further. It should be the UK’s short-term goal to ensure everyone in the country can reap the benefits of EVs, not just the privileged few.”
