Seven in ten councils have no electric car transition plan
More than seven in ten UK councils have not published electric vehicle (EV) transition plans despite being encouraged to do so by the Government, an investigation has found.
Responses to freedom of information requests by the Faircharge campaign found 28 per cent of local authorities havereleasedastrategyforsupporting the switch to electric motoring.
A further 23 per cent said they are in the process of devising a plan.
London is the region with the highest proportion of councils with a published strategy, at 57 per cent.
It is followed by the West Midlands(44percent),scotland(38 percent)andthenorthwest(30 per cent).
At the other end of the scale are Northern Ireland (0 per cent), the East Midlands (10 per cent) and Wales (13 per cent).
The Department for Transport's (DFT) EV Infrastructure Strategy, released last month, said the Government will "transform local on-street charging by putting an obligation on local authorities (subject to consultation) to develop and implement local charging strategies".
The document added that local leadership is "essential to creating new investment opportunities and inspiring local confidence in EVS".
In a recent response to a parliamentary question on EVS, minister for energy, clean growth and climate change Greg Hands said the Government will "monitor and engage with local authorities as they progress with their strategies".
Faircharge spokesman
Quentin Willson, a former Top Gear presenter, said: "The figures revealed from councils in our freedom of information requests are extremely worrying.
"BEIS (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) and DFT say that local authorities are best placed to consider local needs.
"This of course is true, but we can see today that without a big role for central government in supporting councils, there is a real chance that much of countrywillbeleftbehindintermsof public charging infrastructure.
"Councils clearly need to up their game too, but there needs to be direction and oversight from central government."
EV owners without access to off-road parking at home often rely on public chargepoints installed by councils.