Energy giant Shell has revealed plans to install 50,000 electric vehicle charging points across the UK by 2025.
It is part of a push to make more charging points available to drivers without private parking as the government targets a reduction in carbon emissions to net zero by 2050.
The UK plans to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 – and the switch to electric will mean new infrastructure is needed to power the electric cars that replace them.
Shell will roll out its plans through ubitricity, an on-street charging point company it bought earlier this year that currently operates 3,600 such sites in Britain.
The company said it would support local authorities with a financing offer to install the charging points across the UK.
Shell said it would do this by topping up the remaining cost of installing on-street chargers not covered by a 75% central government subsidy.
It did not give details on the cost of the initiative – through which it will make money by selling energy at the charging points.
According to a recent report from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, forecasts suggest that 280,000-480,000 public charge points will be needed by 2030 – more than ten times the current number of 25,000.
More than 60% of households in city and urban areas do not have off-street parking, according to figures quoted in a National Audit Office report earlier this year that was cited by Shell in its latest announcement.
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David Bunch, Shell’s UK country chair, said: “It’s vital to speed up the pace of EV charger installation across the UK and this aim and financing offer is designed to help achieve that.”
Transport minister Rachel Maclean said: “Together with industry and local authorities, we can create cleaner, greener local communities – providing EV chargepoints for people without off-street parking across the country.”