Electric Car Interest Soars, Connected Curb Targets 190,000 Electric Charging Stations In UK

Demand for electric charging stations in the UK, jumped significantly. (photo: doc. unsplash)

JAKARTA – Electric charging infrastructure company Connected Curb said on Monday 8 November that it plans to install 190,000 public chargers on UK roads by 2030. This plan requires an investment of up to 1.9 billion pounds (Rp 36.6 billion). trillion), as the demand for electric vehicles is now increasing.

The London-based company has around 1,000 public chargers already in operation, of which 10,000 have signed contracts. Chief Executive Chris Pateman-Jones told Reuters Connected Curb should have a deal to build an additional 30,000 chargers by the end of the first quarter of 2022.

Connected Curb uses long-term contracts spanning 15 to 25 years, financed by major infrastructure banks and groups such as infrastructure investor Equitix. The contract is to build a public electric charging station for residential use. The company also uses subsidies from the UK government.

The UK has pledged to ban the sale of new diesel and petrol cars from 2030. The UK government estimates the country will need around 400,000 EV charging points by then. But Pateman-Jones said Connected Curb believes demand will require far more charging stations.

According to the European Association of Automobile Manufacturers, or ACEA, electric car sales in the UK jumped 88% in the first nine months of 2021 compared to the same period a year earlier.

But while EV sales have soared, delays in installing the charging infrastructure have created their own set of obstacles. Cities in Europe and the US that plan to phase out combustion engines over the next 15 years must first solve the problem of millions of residents parking their cars on the streets.

"The real barrier to buying an EV is the lack of convenience in charging infrastructure and the lack of reliability that exists in today's charging infrastructure", said Pateman-Jones.

Earlier this year Royal Dutch Shell said it would expand its network of EV charging points in the UK and aims to install 50,000 electric charging station posts on the road by 2025 via on-road charging units.