09.07.19
Government to invest £40m in electric vehicle infrastructure and wireless charging
The government is investing nearly £40m in infrastructure for electric vehicles including wireless charging systems.
The funding is to be split across 12 projects which will “transform” electric chargepoint infrastructure in the UK, with support for a number of exciting innovations and charging technologies.
Wireless electric car charging systems are one of the innovation projects receiving investment, as well as solar-powered forecourts, underground charging systems and “pop-up” pavement technology.
Future of mobility minister, Michael Ellis, said: “We’re charging up the transport revolution and investing in technologies to transform the experience for electric vehicle drivers.
“Ensuring the charging infrastructure for electric vehicles is reliable and innovative is encouraging more people to join the record numbers of ultra-low emission vehicle users already on UK roads.”
The announcement comes one year after the launch of the government’s Road to Zero strategy which aims to have “almost every car and van” in the UK to be zero emission by 2050.
So far this has driven a 60% increase in battery electric vehicle registrations compared to the same period in 2018.
However, there has also been a drop in demand for plug-in hybrid cars, which fell from 4,571 vehicles last June to 2,268 vehicles last month.
As part of the new announcement, a number of companies have been handed multi-million-pound investments to move forward with new technologies such as “pop-up” chargers which are built into the pavement.
Other projects include a renovation scheme installing chargepoints in car parks to allow for mass charging at night, and a project leveraging existing Virgin Media infrastructure to deliver cost-effective and widespread charging.