King's speech outlines new EV plans

The nation gathered to see King Charles’ post-election speech last week, as transport and energy policy took centre stage for the new Labour government looking to build on its manifesto policies.

Many will have heard about the pledge for a publicly-owned Great British Energy company that aims to create renewable energy, but the King also went into how the EV market and its continued support will be a key component in Labour’s transport strategy.

In particular, the King mentioned the acceleration of net zero through electric vehicle charging hubs and associated infrastructure.

Interestingly, however, there was no specific mention of the Labour commitment to roll back to 2030 the banning of the sale of petrol and diesel vehicles in the speech, which could suggest such a move to be a low-priority one for the new administration.

Unsurprisingly, the speech was received well by many in the energy and transport sector, with chief executive of EVA England James Court stating that the planning reform proposals were “encouraging” and that national infrastructure needed to be installed quickly, reliably, and consistently.

He continued: “(Installation) is all the more essential for electric vehicles and our urgent priority to make sure the national charging infrastructure suitably meets a growing demand, and that we hit our net zero targets.”

These pledges towards green transport moves were backed by Labour party members too last week, with new Transport Secretary Louise Haigh promising to deliver the biggest overhaul to transport in a generation, including “deliver[y] on green transport”.

The future of the UK’s green transport and energy sectors looks bright! King Charles must have been paying close attention when he visited the Sony Tech Centre this month, home to Clenergy EV’s HQ.

Sales of used electric cars soar in UK as prices tumble

In more good news for the UK’s EV sector, used car sales have skyrocketed following a price drop bringing them closer to the average affordability of their ICE equivalents.

As early adopters of EVs continue to make the shift to newer models, prices of secondhand EVs have fallen to the same levels as those for a wide range of used petrol cars, according to data from Auto Trader.

Level pricing was pushing more consumers to battery-run cars, driving secondhand EV sales up 63 percent in the first half of 2024 compared with the previous year, the company said.

“We have reached that price parity point that bridges the affordability gap for the consumer,” said Ian Plummer, commercial director at Auto Trader.

We’ve been talking throughout the so-called ‘EV sales slump’ that occurred in some months this year, in which year-on-year growth stagnated or stuttered, that one of the main barriers to continued market growth was outright vehicle affordability, and that EVs themselves were still the future. It’s great to see these figures support that, with greater availability for the early mainstream adoptees equalling more sales as predicted.

On this topic, InsideEV’s Mark Hogan weighed in on this continuous speculation on market growth and health. According to Mark: “EV sales aren’t stalling here. In a “down year,” where growth has been slower than expected, EV sales are handily outpacing conventional car sales growth, both at home and abroad. The revolution is in full swing.”

Either way, the fact is that the industry must continue to work towards more affordable vehicles for the public to keep pace with commercial/fleet EV adoption. And it appears to be doing just that, with the rollout of much-anticipated, affordable options like the Dacia Spring on the horizon in this year and the next.

All that remains is the continued expansion of our public charging network to support this. Which brings us to…

Nearly 1 Million EV Chargers in the UK, with a New Public One Added Every 25 Minutes

There are now almost 1M electric car chargers in the UK, according to data, a figure that the industry argues is proof that installations are keeping pace with increasing sales of battery vehicles.

The latest figures were published in a whitepaper early last week from ChargeUK, and state that the pace of installation on the public network is currently at one charger every 25 minutes. 

The body’s report, “Powering Ahead to 2030”, worked with independent transport research organisation New AutoMotive, and also found that current infrastructure can provide enough power to enable every EV in the UK to drive 580 miles a day.

If current growth continues, the rollout of public chargers will track ahead of EV adoption and there will be over 300,000 public charge points in the UK by 2030, it said.

This is a huge development in the narrative surrounding this figure that has emerged over the last 6-12 months, in which industry experts have often touted a failure to keep pace with the numbers required to hit this target. You only have to go to the start of this year to find articles discussing how the UK can improve its rate of installation following reports pointing to a missing of the target, and so the new data reflects an industry adapting to the challenge once again to dispel doubts regarding its readiness to support mass adoption.

The report added that to keep accelerating at today’s pace and stay on track for 2030, the charging sector needs the new government to help us get even more chargers in the ground, by removing the grid, planning and permitting delays slowing us down, and including renewable electricity in the RTFO.  

If Labour stays true to its promises to support such a rollout, the industry may well be in its way to overcoming another big challenge to its viability as the UK’s main mode of private and commercial transport in the coming decades.

That’s all from us in this week’s EV news round-up! A lot of positive news to take away, as the future looks bright for the UK’s EV rollout and green transport revolution. If you’re ready to get started on saving and making money with your EVs, check out our Home Charging app and business solutions to learn more.