Petrol loses power to surge in charge points
Millions missed their MOT renewals last year
THE number of electric vehicle charge points is surging, with a five-fold increase in five years. Official figures show that at July 1, 2020 there were 18,265 public charge points in the UK, with 3,206 of these being rapid chargers.
This also marks an 11% increase in the year to date.
Looking specifically at rapid chargers, the number has increased by 363%.
However, the Department for Transport says there is an uneven distribution of public charge points throughout the UK. This is because some local authorities have bid for public funding while others have not, with most public charge infrastructure driven by businesses such as hotels or privately owned charging networks.
The average number of charge points per 100,000 people in the UK is 27, however the highest average is in London with 57, a long way ahead of second-place Scotland, with 35, while Yorkshire and the Humber and the West Midlands have 17, and
Northern Ireland has just 16.
Commenting on the figures, RAC head of roads policy Nicholas Lyes said: “With suggestions that we may have passed ‘peak petrol’, the sight of plenty of new chargers in prominent locations like supermarket car parks could be the nudge that some drivers need to opt for a plug-in car next time they change their vehicle, over one powered purely by petrol or diesel.
“While home charging is one of the most important elements of electric vehicle ownership, a comprehensive public charging network is also vital to giving drivers confidence they can keep topped up when away from home. For this reason, it’s vital new chargers are installed right across the UK in rural as well as urban locations.
“It’s also important that rapid and ultra-rapid chargers start to make up a greater proportion of new public chargers – this will mean the ‘turnover’ of electric vehicles using them can be as high as possible, and can go some way towards making the process of charging a car as normal as filling one with fuel.”
MORE than seven million motorists in 2019 risked a £1,000 fine by missing their MOT renewal, according to new data.
Of these drivers, 81% renewed within three months of their expiry date, with MOTs expiring in May the least likely to be renewed on time.
Insurance comparison site MoneySuperMarket analysed data from the DVSA, DVLA and Department of
Transport, and also found that 634,000 untaxed vehicles were on the road last year.
Meanwhile, 2.3 million UK adults were driving without a valid licence, having not updated them to their latest details. Each of these offences also risks a fine of up to £1,000.
In 2019, there were a total of 160,000 fines issued for driving licence, insurance and record-keeping offences, with London seeing the highest number of fines with almost 30% of infringements.
The North-east saw the fewest fines, representing just 2% of the UK total.
Dave Merrick, car insurance spokesperson for MoneySuperMarket, said: “It can be easy to forget things like MOT, insurance or tax. We encourage everyone to keep track of their renewal days, and actively set reminders if you need a little help.”