Vanarama: EV charging investment inadequate

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The boss of one of Britain’s biggest car leasing businesses has dismissed the government’s planned investment in EV charging infrastructure as “inadequate”.

Andy Alderson (pictured), founder and CEO of online leasing firm Vanarama, has seen orders for electric cars increase by more than 1,000% in 2021 and more than double since fuel shortages began in late September.

The online leasing marketplace now processes an average of 55 pure-electric vehicle orders every day and expects to deliver more than 20,000 EVs to customers in the next calendar year.

But he says the huge surge in consumer demand for EVs is far outpacing the roll-out of public charge points, and that the £620 million investment announced this week as part of the Government’s Net Zero Strategy goes nowhere near far enough.

A report issued earlier this week by independent transport research organisation New AutoMotive estimates that the UK will need between 230,000 and 280,000 public chargers by 2035 to meet demand. There are currently just 24,000.

The report estimates that 40-50 charge points need to be installed across the country every single day to keep pace with current demand.

Alderson warns that a failure by Ministers to accelerate investment risks stalling the switch from internal combustion cars, putting the goal to end the sale of all petrol and diesel cars by 2030 at risk.

He said, “The Government needs to act and act quickly if it is to remain on course for its Net Zero targets.

“We are seeing massive demand for electric vehicles and that demand is growing all the time. But if nothing is done to improve the availability of public charge points, we risk losing the momentum.

“Every car manufacturer has accelerated plans for electric vehicles and it’s imperative that the government follows suit.”

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