Wales is almost off the grid when it comes to serving electric vehicles.
It has the fewest public charging points for electric vehicles, a survey has found.
Just 429 points were identified by Click4Reg.co.uk and that’s 3.2% of the UK total.
It’s not only bad for encouraging EV ownership but potentially putting off visitors as well.
The poor performance of EV point providers contrasts with the 34.54% growth in electric powered models registered over the last 12 months to 94,093 new models.
Aboout 80% of EV owners choose to charge at home in the knowledge they cannot power up on the road.
Government incentives have pushed up EV registrations and now its expected to accelerate as more urban areas announce plans to restrict non-EVs and the UK wants to ban internal combustion engines by 2040.
Since the plug-in grant was given in January 2011 about 116,649 models have been bought and this number is rapidly rising. But 77% of potential owners told the pollsters that they were put off making the switch because of unreliable public charging points. Broken chargers or being blocked by non-electric vehicles is a common complaint and with few chargers and slow systems its possible owners might have to queue for over an hour to get a place and then wait while the charge delivered. The RAC found the network is “not attractive” with over a tenth regularly out of use. Greater London has the most charging points and over a fifth of the national total, Wales the fewest. Home chargers can sometimes be fitted free or for a typical cost of £300, but more robust public points are much dearer, although Shell is now introducing them and motorway services have them. | Electric vehicles emit less greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than diesel engine cars – even when powered by the most carbon intensive electricity, a new independent study has found. EVs will emit even less as more renewable electricity enters the grid, according to an analysis of the lifecycle emissions of the vehicles conducted by VUB university in Brussels for NGO Transport & Environment (T&E). Even in countries with the highest GHG intensity of electricity generation – Poland and Germany – the EV performs better on a lifecycle basis (including the emissions in manufacturing the battery and vehicle) than the diesel car. Using the Polish average, an electric vehicle emits 25% less CO2 over its lifetime, while in Sweden an EV emits 85% less. Meanwhile, EVs’ sustainability will improve further with battery technology advances and as more batteries are re-used for electricity storage or recycled. |