The government has announced an additional £2.5 million to fund electric car chargepoints on residential streets, with demand for new and used electric and hybrid cars continuing to grow.
The extra funding means more more accessible charging infrastructure for households without their own off-street parking.
So far, local authorities across the country have installed 1,200 residential chargepoints in 2019, which can be built into existing structures like lamp posts.
‘We want to do more’
Transport secretary Grant Shapps said the government was doubling funding to meet demand and accelerate the take-up of electric vehicles.
“There are now more than 20,000 publicly-accessible chargepoints and double the number of electric vehicle chargepoints than petrol stations, but we want to do much more,” he explained.
“It’s vital that electric vehicle drivers feel confident about the availability of chargepoints near their homes, and that charging an electric car is seen as easy as plugging in a smartphone.”
Rising demand for new and used
Demand for electric and hybrid cars is continuing to grow rapidly in the UK. According to the latest industry figures, demand for new electric vehicles shot up by 158 per cent over the last 12 months, with hybrid electric models also experiencing a growth of 34 per cent.
There are now more than 350 hybrid, plug-in hybrid or battery electric models available in the UK, with more expected to arrive in showrooms later this year.
Demand is also rising rapidly in the used car market, with more than 33,000 hybrid, plug-in hybrid and pure electric models changing hands over the last year.
