ON TOUR: Electricity and cars

Did you know that all new buildings in England need to have electric car charge points from 2022?  Chloe Davies reports.

Are you an electric vehicle driver planning to buy a newly built home? All new homes and buildings in the UK will be required by law to provide and install electric vehicle charging points. New-build supermarkets, workplaces and buildings undergoing major renovations will also come under the new law. This decision comes as a further step in the switch to electric vehicles by 2030, when the sale of new petrol and diesel cars will be banned.

This is great news for any electric vehicle owners that are planning to move into a newly built home. However, what if your building is older and you don’t have a charging station installed? Actually, there are a few convenient and easy solutions to this that you will find in this article.


How is the plan for new buildings going to roll out?

Developers of new buildings and commercial buildings, such as supermarkets, offices and shopping centres are now required to install electric charging points for their customers.

The Government expects this new requirement to lead to 145,000 new charging points each year. Buildings that are currently undergoing renovations and have more than 10 parking spaces are also included in this new measure.


Electric car sales in the UK

As it can be seen from the graph below electric car sales in the UK are growing, with about 10% of cars sold in 2021 being pure electric, up from 2.5% in 2018. This figure is expected to further grow as we get closer to 2030 when the sale of new petrol and diesel cars will be banned in the country.  See BTN 7 February Electric cars take off.

The move to electric vehicles is part of the UK's strategy to meet its net zero climate targets, with cars and taxis accounting for 16% of UK emissions in 2019. Several major car manufacturers, such as Jaguar and Volvo plan to go all electric from 2025 and 2030.  Ford has promised that all vehicles sold in Europe will be electric by 2030.


Further investments in electric vehicle infrastructure

As part of the Government’s bid to reach net zero by 2050, almost 26,000 publicly available electric vehicle charging devices have been installed, including 4,900 rapid ones. A total of 250,000 points in homes and workplaces have already been put in place for use.


What if your building is older and doesn't have a charging point?

If you live in a building that does not have a charging point installed, there are still many convenient solutions and ways to charge your electric car. You can even apply for grants that will help you finance the installation of a charging station at your home.

The main thing that prevents people from buying an electric car is the fear of not being able to charge whenever they need and that they might end up in the middle of nowhere with their car. However, that should not be an issue, because there are plenty of charging points available now all around the UK.


Installing an EV charging station at home

Charging your EV at home can be a convenient solution. There are green energy suppliers that offer good tariffs for customers that own electric cars. First, you need to install a charging station at your home, if you don’t have one already. If you are planning to do so, you can benefit from the Government's Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme, which is a 75% contribution to the price of installation and up to £350.


EV charging station on the street

There are around 42,000 charge points across England in over 15,500 locations. Average electricity rate in the UK is around 17p per kWh. Therefore, to charge a 60kWh electric car, it will cost between £9.00 and £9.90 for 200 miles. Depending on the charging station and the car, you can fully charge your car in a few hours or less. For example, for a typical electric ??car with 60kWh battery, it takes around 7-8 hours to charge with a 7kW charging point. If you use a rapid charger with 50kW, you can add up to 100 miles in just 35 minutes.
 
It is possible to find free stations around supermarkets, shopping centres and hotels. However, there could be a limit on the time for charging or you might need to be a customer in the supermarket, for instance.


Charging stations on highways

You can find charging stations on highways, and the good thing about them is that most of them should be either the fast or the super-fast charging points that will fill up your car in no time. For instance, the green energy provider Ecotricity, installed rapid charging in 96% of motorway service stations.

Electric cars are at the forefront of technology advancement when it comes to road vehicles.  All pure electric cars have mapping software to tell you where the nearest charging point is.  There is as much chance of running out of battery power as there is of having a dry fuel tank.

Go electric next time.

www.switch-plan.co.uk/green-energy/green-suppliers

www.gov.uk/government/publications/customer-guidance-electric-vehicle-homecharge-scheme/electric-vehicle-homecharge-scheme-guidance-for-customers

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OUR READERS' FINEST WORDS (All times and dates are GMT)

All comments are filtered to exclude any excesses but the Editor does not have to agree with what is being said. 100 words maximum

Richard Lambert, Cambridgeshire

A rather optimistic overview of "best positive points" that skirted over - Vehicle costs and restricted tax breaks not available to private buyers. Inadequate grid supply capacity nationally and on local and down to individual properties. Installation cost with house supply upgrades. A central urban view of the situation not rural, or even small town or urban suburb car users. 2030 too soon for the technology and economics to match political ambitions without major restrictions on personal car ownership and usage. Or is that the purpose?