Seven major British companies, including the operators of some of the largest commercial vehicle fleets in the country, have joined forces to help accelerate the mass adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) across the UK.
The firms – BP, BT, Direct Line Group, Royal Mail, ScottishPower, Severn Trent and Tesco – working together as the Electric Vehicle Fleet Accelerator (EVFA), have outlined a series of urgent actions needed from both industry and Government in a report.
This sets out detailed recommendations, immediately and over this next decade and is focused in four key areas.
It recommends the future-proofing of the electricity network infrastructure, ensuring that price controls and funding measures reflect the scale of the challenge, outlines the need to invest in the network ahead of need, and the importance of support for levelling up with investment in areas the market does not reach.
The report says there needs to be a UK-wide rollout of charging infrastructure, a fast-tracking of chargepoints in the planning system, an alignment with local authorities to unlock land for charging infrastructure, and clear frameworks for funding.
It points out that demand obstacles must be overcome, there should be increased capital support for grid reinforcement costs, minimum standards for reliability, safety and interoperability must be introduced, as well as improved access to public charging networks.
Simon Thompson, CEO of Royal Mail said: “With our ‘feet on the street’ network we already have the lowest reported CO2e emissions per parcel of any major UK delivery company, but we want to go further through our investment in electric vehicles.
“With the right policy and infrastructure in place, Government and industry can turbo-charge the faster rollout of electric vehicles built in the UK.”