Around 100,000 street-side electric vehicle (EVs) charging points are set to be installed across England as ministers pledge a £381 million investment.
The new charging points come on top of 80,000 already installed publicly across the UK, and tens of thousand more installed privately.
The cash aims to help the uptake of electric cars among motorists who do not have their own driveways and charging points.
Transport minister Lilian Greenwood said: “This Government is powering up the EV revolution by rolling out a charge point every 29 minutes, and our support to roll out over 100,000 local charge points in England shows we’re committed to making even more progress.
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“We’re delivering our Plan for Change by investing over £4 billion to support drivers to make the switch, while backing British car makers through international trade deals – creating jobs, boosting investment and securing our future.”
The money comes from the Government’s Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure fund, which helps councils to install new EV charging points.
The investment comes as London-based firm Believ has secured £300 million to roll out charging points across the UK in a sign of growing market confidence in EVs,
In the first five months of this year, pure battery electric new cars accounted for 20.9 per cent of the market, an increase from 16.1 per cent in the same period last year. The sale of new petrol and diesel cars will be banned in the UK from 2030.
However, a study from China recently found that Europe, China and the US will all struggle to produce enough lithium domestically to satisfy the demand for electric vehicle (EV) batteries in the coming years.
Researchers from East China Normal University in Shanghai and Sweden’s Lund University identified a "looming crisis" that could lead to "delays in meeting critical climate and energy goals".
Their study warns that even with a potential tenfold increase in domestic lithium production across these regions by 2030, it will not be enough to meet the rapidly increasing demand, unless there are technological advancements or a rise in imports.
