"We must shift to electric as soon as possible"
Those were the words of the Chancellor of the Exchequer yesterday as he announced a £400m investment fund into Electric Vehicle charging infrastructure as part of the 2017 Autumn Budget. A total of £540m is being invested in the EV industry, including £400m on building the next generation in charging infrastructure.
Currently, there are only 14,000 EV charge points across the UK, with most of these deploying charging power far less than 50kW, let alone the 150kW mark that is expected to become commonplace in 2018. With just over 125,000 plug-in vehicles on UK roads, that puts the ratio of EVs to charge points at around 8:1. With the Government's planned investment this ratio will become smaller, charging speeds will increase, and mass EV adoption will become reality.
"We are on the brink of a technology revolution"
The Chancellor also touched on the impact autonomous cars will have on the industry and has shown his backing for self-driving vehicles by pledging £500m into the wider tech industry, including £40m to be invested in research & development for electric and autonomous cars.
'We want the UK government to seize the initiative by committing to no new diesel or petrol cards by 2030 rather than 2040, in order to unlock investment and encourage this game changing shift' - Head of Energy & Climate at WWF.
