The number of electric car chargers installed by local authorities fell by more than 80 percent last year, according to official figures.
An audit of government data by the Daily Mail reveals that councils installed just 656 charging points last year, down from 4,066 the year before.
Meanwhile, more than half of councils have failed to comply with any of these rules – just 146 out of 320 across the UK have done so.
Critics last night said it was a mockery of Labour’s decision to reintroduce a 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel cars, as having enough chargers will be crucial to meeting the target.
The figures relate to the number of publicly available chargers installed through the Government’s On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS).
An audit of government data by the Daily Mail reveals councils installed just 656 charging points last year, down from 4,066 the year before (file image)
Former prime minister Rishi Sunak last year delayed a ban on petrol and diesel car sales by five years until 2030 amid falling popularity of electric vehicles, which can be up to £10,000 more expensive than their fossil fuel equivalents.
The fund, launched by the Government in 2017, provides grants to local authorities to cover the cost of installing publicly available charging points.
Former prime minister Rishi Sunak last year delayed by five years a ban on petrol and diesel car sales from 2030 amid falling popularity of electric vehicles, which can be up to £10,000 more expensive than their fossil fuel equivalents.
But the new Labour government has decided to reset the 2030 date along with a host of other net-zero policies.
In 2018, municipalities installed only 50 chargers thanks to the ORCS fund. This figure rose to 429 the following year, 1,407 in 2020, 1,746 in 2021 and 4,066 in 2022.
However, last year, this figure dropped to 656, according to official data published by the Department for Transport. This means that, in total, local councils have installed 8,354 chargers on public roads since the launch of the ORCS fund.
The failure of local governments to play a greater role in the planned electric vehicle revolution has fuelled falling demand for electric vehicles among individuals.
Around 15.2 percent of new cars registered in March were battery electric vehicles, down from 16.2 percent a year earlier.
Last night’s findings prompted fresh calls for ministers to reconsider the 2030 target, designed to boost Britain’s efforts to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
Conservative MP Greg Smith said: “The lack of charging points certainly deters people from swapping their trusty petrol or diesel cars, which they can fill up in minutes, for a battery electric vehicle.
Conservative MP Greg Smith said: “The lack of charging points is certainly deterring people from swapping their trusty petrol or diesel cars, which they can fill up in minutes, for a battery electric vehicle.”
“Local councils are not stupid and do not believe that there will be any major revolution in electric vehicle ownership. The 2030 date was always a crazy date.”
Publicly available chargers are crucial if the new government is to meet its 2030 target, because an estimated 40 percent of households do not have access to off-street parking, such as a private driveway.
This means that they cannot install their own power point at home and are dependent on public power points.
It is believed that many municipalities do not have the necessary experience to install chargers.
But they are also hampered by the planning system and by problems with connecting the devices to the power grid.
Government officials say, for example, that thousands more applications to install chargers have been approved and could be operational soon.
The private sector is also installing publicly available hotspots at a much faster pace.
At the beginning of April, there were 59,670 across the UK, counting chargers installed by local councils and individuals. This means that chargers installed by local councils account for just over 14 per cent of all devices.
The last Conservative government’s goal was to create 125,000 residential street chargers by 2030.
If the new Labour government continues this trend, an average of 58 will need to be installed per day between now and the end of the decade.
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “We recognise the importance of reliable EV charging infrastructure and will set out plans to drive its roll-out in due course.”
