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Expansion of electric car charging network must focus on location data, says report – EQ Mag

Expansion of electric car charging network must focus on location data, says report – EQ Mag

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A geospatial committee will work with the government to make charge-point data more accessible for local authorities and planners.

The expansion of the UK’s electric car charging network needs to focus on more data-driven location evidence, according to a new government report.

The paper, Getting To The Point: Accelerating EV Charge Point Rollout Through Geospatial Data, says the location of charging points is just as important as increasing the number of them.

Earlier this year, in line with its target to end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars, the government announced plans to create around 300,000 public EV charging points by 2030.

Currently, the number is around 36,000.

The paper, by the government’s geospatial committee, says situating charge points in the right places ahead of demand will “inspire confidence in drivers who have not yet made the switch, thereby accelerating the uptake of EVs”.

Data by ZapMap shows more than 44% of public charging points are located in London and the South East.

The committee says it will work with the government to make charge-point data more accessible for local authorities and planners.

It comes after long queues to charge electric cars were filmed at Tebay Services on the M6 on 27 December, with reports some drivers had to wait well over an hour to plug in.

At Gordano Services on the M5 on Thursday, six electric-car owners were queueing for a charge point.

Tesla owner Jonathan Tucker told Sky News it was getting busier.

“I noticed this summer the roads were busier with electric cars and the charging points were busier,” he said.

“I am finding that particularly in summer I am staggering my journeys and leaving a bit earlier to make sure I’m not at the points where I need to charge the car at rush hour.”

Carly Tucker said that sometimes charging points aren’t working.

“The Tesla thing says it’s going to be there and be open, and then we turn up and they’re all covered up and not working.”

‘Woefully inadequate’

Sustainable transport editor at energy services company Centrica, Amanda Stretton, told Sky News the current infrastructure is “woefully inadequate”.

“It’s all well and good concentrating a huge amount of charging infrastructure, and also the fast high-quality charging, in the places that we would traditionally see most traffic.

“But it’s important that the rest of the country is served as well because otherwise it really rather defeats the object if we have people forced into these ridiculous scenarios of having to queue for a huge length of time just in order to access a charger.

“It really is going to slow the uptake of people wanting to make the move to EVs. And it just reduces the appetite.”

Transport minister Jesse Norman said: “We want to ensure that the UK keeps its position as a world leader in decarbonising road transport.

“That is why the government is working to build an electric vehicle charge point network that works for everyone, everywhere.

“Location data is a crucial part in accelerating the transition to a sustainable transport system, and I look forward to working with the geospatial commission to realise our ambition for electric vehicles.”

Source: PTI
Anand Gupta Editor - EQ Int'l Media Network