Queen’s Speech includes boost for electric vehicles

The initiative, in the Automated and Electric Vehicles bill, is to boost the use of EVs, with the legislation including common technical and operational standards for ease of use for vehicle owners. This is part of a £200m research fund to develop the EV infrastructure across the UK.

This is not the first project of this kind; oil giant, Shell has announced that it is adding electric charging point to their forecourts. Russia has also made it a law that petrol stations must provide Electric Vehicle (EV) charging points and EV manufacturer, Tesla, has partnered with the QuickCheck chain of gas stations, in the US, to locate its Superchargers at its sites.

How effective will the UK initiative be?
The aim of the legislation is clearly to get more EVs on the road, with quick and easy access to charging points. In 2013, there were 3,500 registered EVs on the roads, but by the end of May 2017 it surged to 100,000 (Source: Next Green Car).

The legislation is a step in the right direction, but there are still many technical challenges to be considered, for EV mass adoption for example range (50-100 miles per charge), speed, charging times, concerns about battery replacement, and limitations on car size.

Although there has been progress in the last four years, it’s still a long road ahead for EVs.

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