One challenge which has garnered attention in recent years is the huge disparities between different parts of the country in terms of EV charge points. As new findings from the think tank Common Wealth demonstrate, access to charge points across the country is deeply unequal, with a vast North-South divide. Westminster Council, for example, has 2693 public charging points, more than Leeds, Bradford, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Newcastle upon Tyne, Portsmouth and Southampton combined.
While state support for councils to roll-out charge points exists, the current approach has led to slow and uneven progress. Only two-thirds of councils have accessed the government’s On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme grant, and just 49 out of 317 have tapped into the newer Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure fund. This underutilisation of resources indicates an alternative approach is needed. The search for reliable alternatives does not require us to look far, however.