Analysis: charging infrastructure must give Yorkshire drivers confidence to go electric
What came first - the chicken or the egg? In the world of electric vehicles, the question is what came first: the car or the charging point?
It’s this vicious circle which is partly why the charging infrastructure in Yorkshire and the Humber is the worst in Britain.
In Swaledale for example, there is only one public charger for miles.
While in cities like Bradford and Leeds, with limited off-road parking where drivers can charge at home, the public charging network is limited.
Drivers buying EVs need to be confident there are enough chargers for them to use, while the companies making the charging points need to know they have enough customers.
At the moment, both aspects are struggling in Yorkshire and the wider North.
Vicky Read, CEO of the industry body Charge UK, has an answer to the EV or the charging point conundrum.
She says her members - charging infrastructure companies - “need to be just ahead of demand”.
“That means we need to know how many EVs are coming,” she explains, however that is a fine line.
“What we can’t be doing is roll out infrastructure so far ahead of demand that it will sit there unused for a very long time.
“Our main concern at the moment is making sure that those investment conditions are as good as they possibly can be.
“When our members are talking - the big thing they’re all looking at is how many EVs are going to be on the road because they’re our customers.”
Ms Read has concerns with certain Government policies, like introducing vehicle tax on EVs.
She’s also worried about the consultation on the zero emission mandate, which introduces sales quotes from car companies.
The Chancellor is under pressure from auto manufacturers to scrap this, as they say it is forcing them to drop price margins on EVs too much.
However, could Rachel Reeves’ drive for growth in the short term cloud more long-term ambitions?
At the moment, owning an EV is a preserve of the select few who have a driveway and enough money to purchase one.
Both the Government and the charging companies need to work together to make it easier and more practical for drivers in Yorkshire.