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ASSURANCE OF SUSTAINABILITY REPORTS: CONSOLIDATING A STRATEGIC DOCUMENT
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BUREAU VERITAS URGES SWIFT ACTION BY BUSINESSES AS GOVERNMENT LAUNCHES NEW EV INFRASTRUCTURE STRATEGY
Apr. 1 2022
Following the UK Government’s recent launch of its new Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy, leading electrical vehicle charging expert, At Bureau Veritas, we are calling on businesses and the public sector to take action immediately, by engaging with EV installers to get their sites or premises ready for a net zero future.
The decarbonisation of the UK transport network is accelerating at rapid pace, with over a quarter of all new cars sold in the UK in December 2021 being battery electric vehicles; the equivalent figure for 2019 was less than 2%.
Cementing its commitment to expand and improve the UK’s EV infrastructure, the Government has pledged £1.6b to this ‘Taking Charge: the electric vehicle infrastructure strategy’. £950m will be made available for the Rapid Charging Fund to support the rollout of at least 6,000 high powered charge points across motorways and major A-roads by 2035 and a further £500m has been committed to Local EV Infrastructure (LEVI) for local authorities to plan and deliver public charging infrastructure.
In the short-term however, there remains a large amount of range anxiety and reliability issues in the charging network, limiting the full uptake of EVs. Businesses and local authorities must act now, to ensure EV infrastructure forms part of their short-term plans.
Senior Consultant for Electric Vehicles
Bureau Veritas
The Government’s new EV strategy certainly demonstrates its commitment to meeting net zero targets and includes a number of important plans and valuable funding streams to support this. With this pledge in place, it’s now time for companies and local authorities to play their part and incorporate EV chargepoints into their business continuity strategies – if they have not done so already – and take the next step of engaging with chargepoint installers to get the ball rolling.
For local authorities, the target of a minimum of 300,000 charge points available for public use in the next few years will aid in removing the stigma of range anxiety we are currently experiencing as a blockade to EV uptake, by focussing on EV infrastructure for those with no off-road parking. Meanwhile for businesses, the upcoming Workplace Chargepoint Scheme (WCS) is being amended to support businesses to have visitor and guest charging, ensuring firms remain competitive with newer buildings built with EV infrastructure in mind.
With electric vehicle charging still feeling like a relatively new phenomenon for many, we recommend partnering with an independent third-party EV specialist to establish your needs and requirements and to ensure ongoing testing and inspection of units to guarantee reliability.
As an independent authority able to support in the transition to EVs. Our Electric Technical Services team can offer consultancy around design and technology feasibility, specification, programme management, regulatory compliance and testing and inspection of the final installed chargepoint.