A £6 billion investment is needed to make the UK an electric vehicle nation, according to an energy market analyst.
Ben Collie, project leader for Aurora Energy Research, said yesterday that £6bn would be required to achieve the three million charging points needed for total coverage in the UK.
Mr Collie said, while the UK “had the ability to make it happen” it’s also “got to make economic sense”.
Last night, Mr Collie set out the economic argument from both a domestic and business standpoint reaching to 2040.
Workplaces, supermarket car parks and motorway service stations are among the areas which must provide EV facilities due to only around 60% of households having access to private parking, the study by Aurora Energy Research found.
Currently the UK has around 14,000 public charging points across the country.
Aurora based its analysis on the number of EVs on the road reaching 35 million by 2040.
It found that landowners can make a profit from the charge points if motorists pay for the electricity they use.
Adding technology such as solar panels, energy storage or enabling EVs to supply electricity back to the grid when it is in high demand will support lower consumer prices for electricity, according to the report.
Mr Collie said: “Offering charging points will depend on how much demand there might be. We need about 3 million according to our research in public areas.
“In terms of prices for drivers, if a typical driver spends £30 a week on fuel currently, they’ll spend about £10 a week with an EV. It would cost about £300 for charging equipment, but this would last for a long time.”
Aurora’s head of flexible energy and battery storage Dr Felix Chow-Kambitsch said the roll-out of EVs over the next 20 years would “radically transform Great Britain’s energy system”.
He added that commercial and industrial sites had a “key role to play in meeting high levels of consumer away-from-home EV charging”.
A previous study for motoring research charity the RAC Foundation found that growth in EV car use could be stalled by limitations in the public charging network.
The mass market appeal of ultra-green vehicles may be restricted without widespread, reliable and easy-to-use charging points, the report warned.
It was announced last week that Government grants for new electric and hybrid cars will be slashed.
Motoring groups claimed the decision will leave the UK struggling to meet targets to reduce vehicle emissions.
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