Background to the report

The government has committed to phasing out new petrol and diesel car sales by 2030, with all new cars and vans sold being zero-emission from 2035. A key way to encourage drivers to use electric vehicles is to provide public chargepoints. Drivers need to be confident that these are widely available and reliable enough to support the length of their journeys.

Jump to downloads

Scope of the report

This report examines whether the Department for Transport (DfT) is achieving value for money in the rollout of electric vehicle infrastructure.

We assess:

  • whether DfT is on track to meet its ambitions for 2030 and the commitments in its strategy
  • whether DfT has set up to deliver its key interventions to support local charging and rapid charging on the strategic road network, and has effectively tackled barriers to installing more chargepoints
  • whether DfT has intervened effectively to improve customer experience of charging infrastructure

Video summary

Report Director Jonny Mood summarises our findings.

Conclusions

A widespread, easy-to-use and reliable network of public chargepoints is crucial to ensuring that the UK is ready to meet the phase-out of petrol and diesel cars in 2030. To date, chargepoint numbers have increased in line with what is needed and the installation of 300,000 chargepoints by 2030, estimated to be the minimum needed, appears achievable.

DfT is navigating a difficult delivery environment to bring its two main initiatives to launch, though later than anticipated. DfT needs to ensure that it manages the risks to the delivery of these programmes, and that they deliver the intended growth in the number of public chargepoints.

The sharp increase in public chargepoints expected over the rest of the decade needs to include a greater focus on where the chargepoints are located and how accessible they are. DfT and other government bodies involved must also be ready to meet the challenges and opportunities that come with this growth.

Solutions to address costly and time-consuming barriers in planning and electricity network connections must be in place to meet the increased scale of installations needed. They must also monitor how people and chargepoint operators behave, to respond to emerging issues and intervene in areas that may disrupt the transition to electric vehicles.

Downloads

Publication details

Press release

View press release (13 Dec 2024)

Latest reports