Rural areas being left behind in electric vehicle charging roll out, report finds

It comes after a Yorkshire Post investigation found that Yorkshire and the Humber has the lowest number of public chargers per person of any region in Britain.

The region has just 65.6 charging stations per 100,000 people, compared with 250.4 in London and 96.6 in the South East, figures from January show.

The Government is set to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 as the UK attempts to hit net zero by 2050.

The PAC said the industry was on track to reach the target of 300,000 chargers by 2030, however these were far too concentrated in London and the South East.

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP, chair of the Committee, said: “It is welcome to see the EV charging roll-out beginning to ramp up, with all the implicit benefits that bearing down on emissions will bring.

“But this roll-out is not currently taking place equally across the nation. Meeting numerical targets for charging points is all very well.

“Delivering thousands of points allowing Londoners to easily zip around the capital while leaving the rest of the UK’s network patchy is obviously an outcome to be avoided.

“Drivers need confidence that they can use an EV without any risk of getting stranded, or they won’t make the switch.

“It is imperative that the motorway network has a complete range of charging points as soon as possible to provide some confidence to drivers who wish to travel about the entire country.”

The PAC also found that not a single public charging point is currently fully accessible.

Mr Clifton-Brown added: “We are risking baking a serious injustice into the fabric of a major part of our national infrastructure.

"Our report therefore challenges the Government – it must move at pace to overcome current delays and encourage take-up, while taking the time to ensure no-one gets left behind in this all-important shift to the future.”

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.”