Recent UK-wide research by The Electric Car Scheme finds fewer than half of commuter-focused car parks contain charging infrastructure for electric vehicles (EV).
In its inaugural Commuter Car Park Report, employee-benefit scheme, The Electric Car Scheme, reviewed 12,000 total car parking spaces and found that only 44% hold EV charging points. The study also showed that less than 1% of the parking spaces analysed were dedicated to EVs.
Of the assessed car parks Scotland offered the most charging points with 60%, compared to England with 44% and 25% in Wales.
Although the October 2022 EV charging device statistics published by the Department of Transport show a significant overall growth in EV chargepoints in the last year, the payment software company Paythru has indicated that 80% of UK drivers may still be deterred from EVs as a result of poor chargepoint experience.
Thom Groot, CEO and co-founder of The Electric Car Scheme, said: “It’s worrying that only 1% of public car spaces in commuter belts offer charging points when currently 16% of new cars sold are electric.”
Vehicle Licensing Statistics published by the Department for Transport show that at present 1% of the UK’s car fleet is fully electric. These figures may increase as Centrica’s Hive revealed that 54% of UK drivers want to switch to an EV before 2030.
Looking towards the future Groot said: “The Electric Car Scheme exists to make the switch to electric more affordable, and while great progress is being made, the infrastructure needs to move faster in order to meet the UK’s net zero goals.”
