🕒 Article read time: 2 minutes
Logistics UK welcomes extra government investment in charge points, but power supply issue still needs to be addressed
In its detailed submission to HM Treasury, ahead of the Spending Review and Autumn Budget, Logistics UK cited a survey of its members, which showed that van operators are being hampered from scaling up EV deployment owing to the high costs of increasing electricity to depots to power a whole fleet.
The submission also highlighted the need for a world-class infrastructure to support the technologies of tomorrow.
That call for government intervention has been answered in part by the announcement in the Budget of a £620 million additional investment to support the transition to electric vehicles, on top of the £1.9 billion committed at the Spending Review 2020. This new funding will be spent on public charge points in residential areas and targeted plug-in grants.
Michelle Gardner, Head of Public Policy, Logistics UK, said: “One of the major barriers to widespread adoption of electric vehicles is the scarcity of public charging points, so we welcome and applaud this extra £620m investment to support the switch to electric vehicles.
“However, arguably the largest single barrier for van operators looking to electrify their fleets is the level of power being supplied to industrial sites. Government intervention is needed to enhance electricity supply through a public spending programme, alongside changes to the regulatory framework, to provide a clear structure of who is responsible for funding upgrades to the electricity grid. We underlined this point in our submission to HM Treasury, and will continue to engage closely with government departments on this issue.”
*www.logistics.org.uk/environment
Published On: 04/11/2021 16:00:01
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