Commons Sense

House of Commons · Westminster Hall

Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure

07 March 2023 · 3 other contributors · 3,711 words

Opened by Stephen Hammond Con Wimbledon

Responding minister: Jesse Norman

TransportClimateEnergy

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Stephen Hammond raised concerns about electric vehicle charging infrastructure in Westminster Hall. A government minister responded.

Key points

  • Mr Hammond highlighted significant regional disparities in the number of charging points per 1000 people across the UK.
  • He pointed out that transport accounts for 27% of the UK's greenhouse gas emissions, with road transport making up over 85% of this total.
  • Mr Hammond asked the Government to equalise VAT rates between home and away-from-home charging and to change planning presumptions to ensure new developments include EV infrastructure.

Key requests to Government

Mr Hammond asked the Government to equalise VAT rates between home and away-from-home charging, change planning presumptions to ensure new developments include EV infrastructure, encourage local authorities to have EV charging strategies, and consider changing byelaws to allow for safer cable runs for home chargers. He also urged the government to review its target of 300,000 public charge points.

How the debate unfolded

MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said.

Opened the debate

Stephen Hammond Con Wimbledon

Mr Hammond highlighted significant regional disparities in the number of charging points per 1,000 people across the UK. He mentioned that transport accounts for 27% of the UK's greenhouse gas emissions and road transport constitutes over 85% of this total. With 39,000 charging points currently available, achieving the target of 300,000 by 2030 presents a challenge due to current progress being slower than anticipated. He also pointed out that there is a lack of accessibility for on-street charging points and highlighted discrepancies in home versus public charging costs.

Other contributors (3)
  • Alan Mak Con Havant

    He agrees that local authorities play a key role in expanding EV charging infrastructure. Havant Borough Council has installed several fast electric vehicle charging points with a private sector contractor, setting an example for other councils to follow. Alan Mak inquired whether greater interoperability, common standards and open protocols are important aspects for accelerating the deployment of electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

  • Daniel Poulter

    He supports the importance of home charging solutions for rural areas where access to public charging stations is limited. He suggests making home charging economically viable as a solution in remote and rural parts of the UK.

  • Jim Shannon DUP Strangford

    There are not enough electric charging points across the UK, leading to reluctance among constituents to purchase electric vehicles. With over 90 vehicles per rapid charging point and an eight-hour charge time for full batteries, he calls for discussions with devolved governments and other countries to align EV charging infrastructure.

Government Response

Jesse Norman

It is a delight to see you in the Chair, Mr Pritchard, not least because you are a man educated in Hereford. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Wimbledon on his indefatigable way of pressing this issue over the years. The Government is committed to achieving climate change obligations and decarbonising transport, aiming to phase out petrol and diesel car sales by 2030 and ensure all new cars are zero emission by 2035. We have invested approximately £2 billion towards transitioning to electric vehicles (EVs) and published a strategy that sets an expectation of around 300,000 public charge points. The Government announced an additional £56 million in February for the local EV infrastructure programme to improve local authorities' capacity to implement necessary changes. Legislation will be laid to reduce charging anxiety by ensuring 99% reliability across rapid charging networks and implementing open data standards. We are also addressing planning permissions, requiring new builds and renovations to install charging points for domestic and non-domestic vehicles during construction.

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