• • • NEWS • • •


more than ten times to 300,000 by 2030 after heavy criticism that the rollout of public infrastructure is too slow to match rapid growth in sales. The Department for Transport (DfT) said it would


UK government vows 10-fold increase in electric car chargers by 2030 T


he UK government has set a new target to increase the number of electric car chargers


our dependence on external energy supplies,” Mr Johnson said. Sales of electric cars made up 18% of new-car


registrations in February, according to the Society for Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Mike Hawes, the SMMT’s chief executive,


invest an extra £450 million to do so, alongside large sums of private capital. Sales of new cars and vans with petrol and diesel engines will be banned from 2030. There were 420,000 pure-electric cars on UK


roads at the end of February, according to the comparison website Next Green Car. There were, however, only 29,600 public charge points in the UK on March 1, according to data company Zap-Map. The £450m local electric vehicle infrastructure


fund would focus on charger hubs and on-street chargers, the DfT said.


Honda charged for $64 billion push on electric vehicles project2


said he wanted binding targets on the charger rollout. “Charging infrastructure must keep pace with


BP has also confirmed it would spend £1 billion


on new UK charger infrastructure as part of its plans to diversify revenues. Prime Minister Boris Johnson linked the move to


electric cars to the push to reduce dependence on foreign fossil fuel supplies. “Clean transport isn’t just better for the


environment, but is another way we can drive down


the rapid growth of sales of these cars,” he said. “Deployed nationally and at pace, this expansion would give drivers confidence they will be able to charge as easily as they would refuel, wherever they are.” Edmund King, the president of the AA, said:


“Whilst great progress has been made, there is still much to do to convince drivers on the number, and importantly reliability, of charge posts.”


ECA welcomes new EV strategy, but warns of potential dangers


E


CA has broadly welcomed the Government’s Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy. However, the body has warned that the


Government’s focus on “market-led” strategy and lack of joined-up policy with local authorities could jeopardise the quality and safety of EV charge point installations and encourage a ‘race- to-the-bottom’ approach. In a freedom of information request to local


authorities in England and Wales in late 2021, ECA found that almost two-thirds had no real plans to install public EV charge points, and over half did not have any funding earmarked for EV infrastructure. Andrew Eldred, ECA director of workforce and


H


onda Motor Company has set out a $64 billion (£49bn) plan for a big push into


electric vehicles that includes having 30 pure battery-powered models by 2030. The company said it aimed to produce two


million electric vehicles globally each year by the end of the decade, with the first new model launched in 2024. Honda said it wanted to build a dedicated


electric vehicle production line in the United States, where it will also procure Ultium batteries from General Motors. Honda is already planning to build electric vehicle production plants in Guangzhou and Wuhan in China. The Japanese company is also considering a


separate joint venture company for battery production there, aside from its General Motors partnership. Sourcing batteries has become a big issue for electric vehicle makers, with competition to secure stocks intensifying. Christopher Richter, an analyst at CLSA, the


broker and investment manager, said the tie-up with General Motors was a good move. “This puts them in good company with a lot


of other makers that have made big battery announcements,” he said. “Ultimately the world is going to leave internal combustion engines behind.”


8 ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING • APRIL 2022


public Affairs, said: “There is a lot to be positive about in this latest strategy, and ECA is pleased to see that the government is trying to address the ‘postcode lottery’ in EV charging across the UK. “But this strategy’s heavy onus on industry and


local authorities to do the bulk of the groundwork to roll out EV infrastructure could hinder any kind of consistency in coverage and quality.


“Safe, high-quality electrical work needs to be


done by electrically competent people. We know for a fact that our industry is ready to rise to the challenge of Net Zero. But a purely ‘market-led’ policy can lead to a race to the bottom on cost, and a drop in quality follows. This will inevitably compromise the efficiency and safety of what gets installed.” The Society of Motor Manufacturers and


Traders estimates that 2.3 million charge points will be needed in the UK by 2030 to keep up with predicted demand.


(BESA) chief executive David Frise to play a key role on a taskforce set up to address skills shortages in engineering and construction. He is joining 14 other business leaders on the


David Frise joins City of London taskforce T


he City of London Corporation has invited Building Engineering Services Association


of low carbon commercial buildings across the capital. Mr Frise will work with other experts from the


Skills for a Sustainable Skyline Taskforce which will look at defining and addressing skills gaps around the construction, retrofit and maintenance


commercial built environment, including local authorities, central government, employers, and training providers. The taskforce has been set up in response to


growing alarm about the shortage of skilled people available to help the corporation achieve its net zero carbon targets. It will run for three years, and its findings will be shared with other cities facing similar problems including Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester, and Glasgow. Mr Frise said: “I am delighted that BESA has


been asked to play an important part in this vital exercise. Working with senior people from such a wide commercial and construction community will help increase our understanding of the nature of skills shortages and help us shape further initiatives for our sector.”


electricalengineeringmagazine.co.uk


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