Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of electric vehicle charging points that are required to be installed in each city, town or village, per units of 1,000 population, within the (1) next year and, (2) next five years.

The Government has not made an estimate of the number of electric vehicle chargepoints required for individual towns, cities or villages. The needs will be highly dependent on local circumstances, such as how many people travel to work by car and level of off street residential parking. We expect the transition to cleaner road transport to be industry- and consumer-led, supported in the coming years by the measures set out in the Road to Zero strategy published in July.

A widespread public chargepoint network is important for drivers who do high mileage, travel long distances and/or have no access to chargepoints at home or work. The UK already has more than 14,000 public chargepoints, one of the largest and most comprehensive rapid networks in Europe.

The Government’s goal is to encourage and leverage private sector investment to build and operate a thriving, self-sustaining public network with the right framework of policy support. The Road to Zero document, for instance, includes commitments to expand electric and low emission vehicle infrastructure significantly across the country. The department will continue to monitor whether any significant gaps, in uptake or infrastructure provision, emerge in the medium term and consider whether there is a case for direct central Government support in areas where there is a market failure.