Yorkshire and the Humber has worst EV charging infrastructure in Great Britain amid North-South divide

This data came out shortly after a National Audit Office report criticised the North-South divide when it comes to EV charging.

That report found that while the Government is on track to meet its goal of having 300,000 charge points fitted by 2030, when the ban on the sale of new diesel and petrol vehicles comes in, large swathes of the country, including Yorkshire, are missing out.

Overall, almost half of all charging points have been installed in London and the South East, while just 15 per cent are in rural areas, the NAO said.

As well as the increased cost for EVs, drivers in Yorkshire also have to worry about where they can charge their car.

Just 2 per cent of the 8.8 million cars on the North’s roads are EVs, Transport for the North (TfN) has said.

A recent report from TfN found that the number of charging points across the North is going to have to increase 15-fold in just five years.

If this fails to happen it is going to make it significantly harder to own a car in Yorkshire and the wider north by the time the Government’s petrol and diesel car sales ban is introduced in five years time.

Vicky Read is the CEO of Charge UK, the industry group for 43 of the companies that install charging points.

She told The Yorkshire Post: “Nationwide numbers are really encouraging, and we’re on track for the minimum number of charge points we need - 300,000 - by 2030

“But what matters to drivers is not the overall number, but can they find a charger when they need it, where they need it?

“The roll out has taken place at different pace across the UK. The South East and London have, at the moment, large numbers of chargers, and that reflects density of population and how many people have EVs.

This highlights the chicken and egg issue when it comes to installing charging points.

As it is primarily done by private companies, they naturally want to ensure their charging points will be used.

However, Ms Read insists Charge UK’s members are committed to levelling up the North when it comes to EV charging.

“We’re all very motivated to get chargers where they’re needed, and that’s everywhere across the UK,” she said.

“There’s no issue in terms of companies not wanting to go to certain areas, it’s just a question of getting the right conditions in place.”

There are some positives from the Government’s latest charging point figures.

Yorkshire and the Humber had the second biggest increase in new installations from October to January at 9 per cent, after the North East.

Gridserve, one of the UK’s biggest charging point companies, told The Yorkshire Post that it is currently bolstering charging on the A1(M) and the M1, at places like Woolley Edge and Leeming Bar, while Wetherby has been expanded as its one of the firm’s most popular sites.

Rebecca Trebble, chief product officer, said: “We are committed to delivering easy and reliable charging across the UK and will continue to add new sites while improving our existing sites.”

The Government’s Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) fund is designed to help on-street charging.

This long-awaited project is finalising and approving the pots of money, and Ms Read said: “We should expect a big uptick in the roll out of that sort of charging in regional areas.”

With this funding, Yorkshire and the Humber has been pledged more money than London.

In Bradford, this is expected to provide an additional 1,000 charge points at 230 different locations across the local authority.

These areas will be selected with a focus on areas of high housing density without off-street parking.

While Ms Read says the LEVI fund will also have a focus on improving rural funding.

The importance of boosting EV take-up cannot be underestimated.

This week’s Climate Change Committee carbon budget, which sets out the path to net zero, says by the 2040s three-quarters of all cars will have to be electric.

The report said that this can be achieved “provided the right incentives are in place”, however at the moment it appears that things are going in the opposite direction.

From April, EVs will no longer be exempt from tax and the Government is also consulting on the zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate, which requires car companies to have a sales quota of EVs each year.

Currently, almost one in five new cars sold are electric, however if the ZEV mandate is reduced or removed then this will certainly reduce.

Ms Read said: “We would really ask the Government to listen to the car sector and what it is it needs to support demand.

“The Government should look at what we can do to support people to buy and lease electric vehicles, rather than changing the quotas, because that would mean we can’t invest.

“That would create a downward spiral of less investment and less chargers.”

Certainly in Yorkshire that would be felt first.

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “Last year was a record year for chargepoints installed in Yorkshire and the Humber, with nearly 1,000 public charge points added to the network– a 36 per cent increase, which is similar to the rate nationally.

“We are investing more than £2.3bn to support industry and drivers make the switch, and electric vehicles are getting cheaper with 21 new electric car models priced at under £30,000.”