Electric vehicle chargers will be a mandatory feature of new homes and buildings in England from next year.
Prime minister Boris Johnson will outline an addition to the country's building regulations later today, which will call for new homes and non-residential properties such as supermarkets and workplaces – as well as substantially refurbished properties with more than 10 parking spaces – to install EV chargers.
The government says this change will lead to the installation of up to 145,000 EV chargers across England each year, building on the "over 250,000" home and workplace chargers it has supported so far.
It added: "With the majority of charging happening at home, this will mean people can buy new properties already ready for an electric-vehicle future, while ensuring charge points are readily available at new shops and workplaces across the UK – making it as easy as refuelling a petrol or diesel car today."
As the UK's 2030 ban on new ICE cars approaches, the government is investing in EV infrastructure to encourage adoption of EVs. Alongside the new building rules, it will also usher in "simpler ways to pay" for EV charging, including contactless, at "all new fast and rapid charge points".
Earlier this month at Glasgow's COP26 climate conference, transport secretary Grant Shapps unveiled a new government-commissioned EV charger design, but it remains unclear how the government plans to roll out the device. This latest announcement hints that streamlined payment processes will be a priority.
Johnson will give a speech at the CBI (Confederation of British Industry) conference later today, during which he will say: "This is a pivotal moment. We can't go on as we are. We have to adapt our economy to the green industrial revolution.
"We have to use our massive investment in science and technology and we have to raise our productivity and then we have to get out your way.
"We must regulate less or better and take advantage of new freedoms."
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Please, let us not get like the USA where seemingly everything has an opposing political angle.
Whichever way we approach it, the UK needs a charging network fit for purpose and the government needs to create the level playing field required to support, encourage and I'm sure legislate in places for its creation. Should they pay for it all, of course not. Should they subsidise it in areas lacking in driveways and dedicated parking places, probably. We need creative thinking from architects, planners and engineers to solve the obvious problems. It's not rocket science, but we do need to know it is going to be available to free up the minds of people on the fringes of using their first BEVs. Field of Dreams. Build it and they will come.
Can we presume that they are also mandating driveways or parking spaces?
As with most things with this government the devil will be very much in the detail.
Compelling house builders to provide EV power points won't happen. At most, and at best, it'll be to provide an electrical supply to a termination point to a convenient location and so avoid the need for a big hammer and surface conduit at a later date but, in the detail, who knows where the termination point will end up.
On the commercial side the government are very much behind the curve anyway. Of the commerical projects I have worked on, I have to go back to 2017 to the last project where a car park was developed / reconfigured / refreshed that didn't have any kind of EV charging infrastructure put in place, even if it was just to be ready. The major supermerkets all have EV charging programmes for their stores with car parks (Tesco started rolling theirs out in 2019). As do the larger drive through chains.
"Johnson will give a speech at the CBI (Confederation of British Industry) conference later today, during which he will say: "This is a pivotal moment. We can't go on as we are. We have to adapt our economy to the green industrial revolution."
Yeah, he did. Did you see it? The man's a shambles. Unprepared, or hungover (or still drunk), or both. He even made a comment as a "former motoring correspondent" that would make 12 year-olds arguing in the playground cringe with embarrassment.
"World beating" I'm sure.
Yes, we get your politics. How about contsructing a proper arguement instead of firing off random accusations.
New houses with chargers - cost price to builders will probably be circa £300 installed (mine was £500 retail price). CCS is the obvious standard, and will need to be wall mounted, and hardly rocket science. It will also be a very good selling point vs anyone who doesn't install them.
The goverment aren't 'behind the curve' on commercial businesses. There have been incentives for installing charging points for years (the business I work for has just installed some), and government can't do and pay for everything. Businesses will make commercial judgement on charger point viability - cost vs atracting or retaining business. Yes it needs planned and coordinated, but do you think this is a school project? It's vastly complicated and involves public and private coordination. I'm not sure of all areas, but Aberdeen currently (no pun intended) has a more than adequate number of public chargers, but I'd like to know when more will be rolled out as more and more BEVs appear on the roads.
Your Johnson rant is just that - a rant. Makes no sense whatsoever. We get it, you don't vote Conservative.
Actually I do vote Conservative, but if you think Johnson's performance at the CBI - a Prime Minister presenting a scripted speech, where this policy was a key part, to a friendly audience - was anything less than rambling, incoherent, and just embarassing then you've seen something different. My vote, not that it's anyone's business, is not a football club season ticket. I can support, I can criticise.
This is a story about what the government are saying that they are going to compel businesses, incuding housebuilders, to do in respect of EV charging from a construction point of view. It is in light of that in which I said that the government are behind the curve. They just are, because so much is already happening. And no I do not think the government can or even should pay for everything - that was very clear from my post. Most businesses are doing it off their own back, not relying on incentives but because it's utterly sensible.
And thank you for patronising me, but yes I'm aware it's not a school project. I'm well versed in the economics of construction and the complexities of the planning system and just declaring that all new houses are to have charging points, from next year, is naieve and misleading. There's at least three planning related laws that would need changing (if not repealling) for it to happen fully across the UK.
I've written before on this but like Aberdeen, most London Boroughs also have a very good network of on street charging available, through converted lamposts, but what is possible is for residents to lobby for conversions to be done in streets where they do not yet exist. Maybe the same can be done in Aberdeen? Or other places?
Our Tesco Superstore has just 4 chargers, the last time I went there with a PHEV loan car two were out of order.