Boost for electric vehicle network as county to install 10,000 chargers by 2030

The UK’s electric vehicle (EV) charging network will be boosted by the largest roll-out of on-street charging by a local authority.

Surrey County Council and charge point provider Connected Kerb have announced a plan for 10,000 new public chargers to be installed across the county by 2030.

There are currently fewer than 39,000 public charge points in the whole of the UK.

Motoring organisations have expressed concern that the growth in the charging network is failing to keep up with demand for EVs.

More than a fifth of new cars sold in the UK last year had a plug.

The project in Surrey is expected to cost £60 million and will be funded by Connected Kerb, which charges drivers for using its devices.

Connected Kerb chief executive Chris Pateman-Jones said: “If one local authority can deliver such a significant boost to the UK’s charging network, just imagine what we could achieve by 2030 if every city, county and combined authority was empowered to do the same.

“Local authorities can become the driving force behind the rollout of charging infrastructure across the country.”

The council’s cabinet member for transport, infrastructure and growth, Matt Furniss, said: “High-quality, reliable and accessible charging infrastructure is critical to accelerating the uptake of electric vehicles across the county and serving the needs of all our local communities.

“Surrey County Council has a commitment to be a carbon net-zero county by 2050, and a large part of us achieving that comes from supporting residents to make the switch to electric vehicles.”

Transport minister Jesse Norman said: “Today’s announcement marks another step in the growth of our public charge point network, enabling more and more motorists to make the switch to electric vehicles.

“The UK is seeing hundreds of millions of pounds of private investment in EV charging across the country, with valuable support from the Government, and it’s great to see innovative British companies like Connected Kerb working with local authorities to deliver ambitious projects such as this one.”

Sales of new petrol and diesel cars and vans will be banned in the UK from 2030.