Ambitious plans have been announced by the Prime Minister for all new homes in England to be required to have charge points for electric cars, as the Government seeks to facilitate the infrastructure improvements necessary for the planned mass-adoption of EVs.
A public consultation was announced on the subject last summer by the Department for Transport, which has now concluded with the Government confirming it will seek to pass legislation in parliament later this year.
The announcement will be made by Boris Johnson himself at the Confederation of British Industry’s annual conference. The changes will force homebuilders to install charge points so potential owners can easily charge their plug-in hybrids and electric cars at home.
The move will also mean buyers of new-build homes won’t have to make use of the Government’s home charger subsidy scheme.
New-build houses without off-street parking won’t be affected by the rules, but the Government is also heavily in research projects that have included wireless charge points, and charge points that rise up from the pavement.
The focus towards EVs has been generated due to the UK Government aiming to meet stringent targets for air quality and pollution caused by internal combustion engine emissions.
From 2030, the £1.5 billion Road to Zero strategy will see the sale of all new cars without electrification banned.
Details of this remain unclear, however it’s understood new cars will have to be able to travel for 50 miles under battery power in order to be allowed to remain on sale, essentially removing all cars but pure electric cars, plug-in hybrids, and hydrogen cars from new-car showrooms.
The new rules will require all-new EV chargers to be the ‘smart’ charging variety, which makes best use of peak and off-peak electricity rates and could see EV’s act as a hive-like network of power storage when large amounts of electricity are generated by wind turbines, for example.
These rules are set to come before parliament later this year.
As well as Road to Zero, the Government has also announced the UK is to be carbon neutral by 2050.
With transport accounting for around a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions, improving and reducing emissions from cars is a key target on the path to achieving this ambition.
Announcing the plans to mandate charge points in new-build homes, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said: “Home charging provides the most convenient and low-cost option for consumers – you can simply plug your car in to charge overnight as you would a mobile phone.”
