In less than seven years in 2030, the UK will ban the sale of all traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) cars. The ban will hope to usher in an optimistic, new vision for the future of personal mobility, with greener, cleaner and more efficient electric vehicles (EVs) set to become our primary mode of transport.
By the time that the ban comes into place we expect there will be more than 14 million EVs on UK roads – a number that represents nothing short of a revolution in personal mobility. Recent projections from Moto show how this EV future will look as an increasing proportion of vehicles on UK roads over the next two decades, with one in 25 cars on the road in 2023 being EVs, one in 10 by 2025, one in three by 2030 and four in five by 2040.
Difficult questions
In order to reach this milestone of EV ownership by 2030 however, there are significant realities that we, as a nation, will need to face in to. There are still major infrastructural, social and political barriers blocking mass-adoption of EV ownership. Of those barriers, perhaps the most under-appreciated is the need for significantly improved energy capacity and infrastructure improvements across the National Grid. To put it into perspective, to service the growing demand for EVs, by 2030 alone, EV charging capacity will require an incredible twelve times as much energy as we currently use today.
In many areas the National Grid and Distribution Network Operators’ (DNO) infrastructure isn’t geared up for the requirements of EV charging. As a business, our ability to install ultra-rapid EV Charging Hubs at our sites has been repeatedly curtailed or delayed by the need for significant improvements in the mains energy supply – we simply can’t get the power quickly enough.
The government, together with industry and the DNOs, needs to urgently invest in viable solutions now to avoid EV charging capacity becoming completely overwhelmed before 2030, and to enable the upcoming ICE sale ban to become a full throttled accelerator for adoption of EVs. Consumer demand for electric models is already increasing and there are already over 690,000 battery electric vehicles (BEVs) on UK roads, plus a further 460,000 plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Zap-Map data indicated.
As things stand, we are already seeing demand for charging outstrip supply and public charging networks – which are vital to those without access to charging at home – are, at times, being overwhelmed. We need to start asking serious questions about how we expect these vehicles to get the power they need?#
It’s a question that no one organisation will have the answer too, which is why we must work together to develop solutions which improve the UK’s energy mix, the grid’s capacity and its infrastructure.
The view from the frontline
Moto has proved that it’s committed to making the switch to EVs easier with an ambitious rollout of an ultra-rapid EV charging network designed to provide greater reliability, simplicity and speed of charging. Indeed, Moto is leading the way with the highest number of ultra-rapid chargers on the UK motorway network with ambitions to have EV charging Super Hubs at all Moto’s motorway service areas by the end of this year.
However, Moto is by no means alone in its ambition to improve access to EV charging though, and many other providers will come up against the same challenges of power supply. This is why we need government to take action to empower the industry and National Grid infrastructure to increase charging provision for consumers and speed up EV adoption in a way that leaves no driver behind. Not doing so would not only set back our nation’s net zero aims, but would also be a huge, missed opportunity for economic growth.
When we opened our first High Power EV Charging Hub at Moto Rugby in April 2021 with 24 ultra-rapid chargers, we knew it represented a major turning point in the feasibility of EV vehicle ownership – signalling the arrival of more accessible, more reliable and quicker on-the-go charging options.
Now, just two years later, having over 200 such charge points across our network, in locations like Exeter and Thurrock, is a vast achievement. Together, with our partners Tesla and Gridserve and the DNOs, we have been able to overcome significant issues with existing Grid infrastructure to deliver a better charging experience for EV owners, as well as make the prospect of EV ownership more attractive. However, we need a better, more co-ordinated way of tackling the issues of power availability at scale. The response currently is ad hoc and focused solely on individual sites and areas.
If we’re to make the most of this once in a hundred year opportunity to revolutionise personal mobility and create an EV future that’s truly accessible to all, then the government must step forward and work with DNOs, Charging Hub providers and other industry stakeholders in order to drive the improvements in energy capacity and grid infrastructure that we desperately need.
This is the only way that we’ll be able to achieve mass EV adoption in a way that leaves no driver behind. If we are to secure a strong, fair and accessible EV future for all, we must act today.
The government need to set shared targets for charge point operators, the National Grid, DNO’s, landlords, transporter hubs and local authorities to ensure we are on track to deliver the amount of power we need, at the pace we need it. Failure to act now will result in insufficient power being available to create the revolutionary new EV world we need.
