MPs call for public electric charging prices to be fair

UK MPs have called for the public to be protected from 'excessive' electric car charging prices. The Transport Committee has also stated that "charging an electric vehicle should be convenient, straightforward, and inexpensive" and that "owners should not face a postcode lottery."

It also identified the need for a clear policy framework, which is essential "to ensure that industry can deliver the vehicles and charging infrastructure required to deliver the Government's ambition."

Questioning whether the Government's current plans are enough to deliver the public charging infrastructure needed across all regions of the UK, it points to the fact that "accessible and reliable charging infrastructure must be available by 2030, but drivers who live in rural or remote areas or who don't have off-street parking risk being left behind." It suggests that the government must work with the National Grid to map national coverage to eradicate 'not-spot' areas and identify locations where the Grid will not cope with additional usage; make public charge provision a requirement of local development and provide funding for local planning and transport bodies to hire staff with a mandate to deliver charging infrastructure; protect the consumer from excessive charges and multiple accounts when charging in public; address the discrepancy between the 5% VAT incurred for home charging and 20% VAT for on-street refills; and set fair pricing for people who charge their electric vehicles in public spaces, as opposed to at home, where cost are "substantially cheaper."

THE Transport Committee's recommendations also state that the move to EVs can only be one strand in the UK's net zero ambitions. To that end, the government has published its Transport Decarbonisation Plan (bit.ly/2WQD90T) which includes the implementation of zero-emission HGV 'e-Highway' trials (see page 16) as well as the cutting down of emissions from the aviation and marine sectors.

OFGEM, the energy regulator for Great Britain has announced it will make a £300m investment to add 1,800 new ultra-rapid charge points to motorway service areas and on key trunk roads. An additional 1,750 charge points will appear in UK towns and cities.

More than £30m of funding from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has also been announced for the development and testing of electric vehicle batteries and hydrogen vehicles.