The Chicken and Egg problem

I was interested to read the Competition and Markets Authority's latest report on the postcode lottery that is electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the UK. As many will know last year the Government announce that by 2030 the sale of new fossil fuelled cars must end, leaving the road ahead clear for electric and alternatively powered (hydrogen?) vehicles. In London there's been a noticeable increase in electric cars on the streets - VW's rather futuristic ID3 is particularly prominent, as well as all those Teslas, and more interestingly plenty of Kia, Hyundai and MGs. But then we're also blessed with more and more charge points.

Outside of London it's a different story. While there's a clear appetite for electric vehicles the absence of charge points is clearly holding things back. If you can't be confident that you can charge your car, then why would you switch from fossil fuels, which has over 100 years of familiar and easy to use infrastructure?

Although, if you put yourself in the shoes of the numerous charging companies then it's a slightly different story. Chargepoints are simpler to install than their fossil fuel counterparts, but they still cost money to install and margins are slim. Unless they're being used they simply won't generate revenue. To justify the expense of installing the charge point the operator needs to be confident that they will get enough use to see a return on their investment. In London and other major cities, that's relatively easy, but beyond that the odds are much more slim.

The CMA report points out that the 22,790 public charging points in the UK have largely been funded by private sector investment. And that's why we have the problem the CMA report highlights. If it costs £1,500 to install and even in a great location you're unlikely to see a return for several years, you'd be understandably hesitant to dot the country with charge points willy-nilly.

The CMA makes a number of recommendations, but at the core it wants the UK government to properly support the EV charging roll out, with financial and strategic support for local authorities and the ultimate ambition that "charging is as simple as filling up at a petrol station".

This can't come soon enough, and if the Government is prepared to set arbitrary deadlines on the sale of fossil fuel cars, then it needs to heed the CMA report.

About the Urban Analytix EV Charging data product:

Our platform makes it incredibly easy for local authorities, charging companies and anyone interested to gauge the viability installing a charge point anywhere in the country. We do this by combining numerous datapoints including existing infrastructure capacity, EV ownership, typical journey times and availability of on street and off street parking to score each location. If you'd like to find out more then get in touch: [email protected]