A new report from the County Council Network has found that the number of publicly-available electric vehicle charge points in England’s county and rural areas lags far behind major towns and cities – as councils warn that much more needs to be done to close the gap in order to meet demand.

With the number of electric vehicles on England’s roads topping one million this year, analysis from the County Councils Network (CCN) finds that drivers in 38 county areas are at a significant disadvantage compared to urban motorists, with just one publicly available charge point for every ten miles in these locations, compared to one for every three-quarters of a mile in London and one for every 4.5 miles in the country’s major cities and towns.

Following the Prime Minister’s announcement last week to delay the ban on petrol and diesel vehicles until 2035, the CCN is calling joining calls on this government and the next administration to prioritise investment into county areas to help them close the gap between rural and urban areas, otherwise it will be much harder for drivers in their areas to switch.

The figures show that just 2% of vehicles registered in county areas as of March this year were plug-in electrical vehicles – the lowest ratio in the whole of England.

New analysis in the CCN’s report finds that:

• The number of plug-in vehicles being registered in county areas has risen dramatically over the last five years, from 70,337 in 2019 to 385,761 as of March 2023. However, with over 18m vehicles on the road in county areas, this represents just 2.1% of the total registered vehicles in those areas. This is significantly less than London (4.6%), especially inner London (7%) and metropolitan borough areas (3.7%). Just 35% of electric vehicle registrations are in county areas, despite them being home to half of England’s population.
• Despite this increase in electric vehicles on the road, the report finds that publicly-available chargepoints have not caught up in county areas. As of July, councils in those locations have delivered over 5,500 extra chargers, with partners, in the last two years, but there is still only one charger for every 9.5 miles in England’s county areas on average – significantly worse than London average (one charger for every 0.7 miles), inner London (one charger for every 0.3 miles), England’s 25 biggest cities (one charger for every 3.7 miles) and metropolitan borough areas (one charger for every 4.5 miles).
• This ratio is holding back drivers in county areas switching to electric vehicles, the report argues. There are just over 13,500 publicly-available chargers in county areas, with London having almost the same amount (13,300) despite its population being significantly smaller to England’s 38 counties. Those county areas have 70% of England’s road miles.

Cllr Sam Corcoran, Climate Change Spokesperson for the County Councils Network, said:

“Considering where we were only five years ago, the increase number of electric vehicles on England’s roads is a significant achievement. But if we are to continue this progress – and we must in order to reach net zero – then there needs to be enough infrastructure to encourage and enable drivers to make the switch.

“As this analysis shows, whilst huge improvements have been made, much more needs to be done in county areas. Councils in county areas have delivered over 5,500 chargers over the last two years, in tandem with private providers but the availability of publicly-available chargers lags behind the cities and urban areas. With only one charger for every ten miles on average in England’s counties.

“The major cities an urban areas have seen the bulk of government’s policy focus and funding on climate action so far, and as a result emissions in those places have fallen at a faster rate than rural areas. Whilst the government’s final allocation of LEVI funds did provide a significant boost to county areas, it is unlikely to be enough. Therefore, the next government must ensure there are substantial funds available for electric vehicle infrastructure, and this must continue to be prioritised to county areas, based on the scale of the emissions reduction challenge they face.”

RSN Chief Executive, Kerry Booth, is welcoming the findings and says rural areas deserve more from their elected representatives: “People living in rural areas are possibly more inclined to join the race to Net Zero as they want to protect and preserve the areas they live in.  Yet, once again, they are held back from making these technological advances because of urban-centric policy decisions. “Making the switch to electric vehicles should be easy but for people living in rural areas it isn’t.  There are fewer charging points, there isn’t the access to a stable and consistent mobile network to pay for these charging points and the cost of buying or leasing an electric vehicle in the first place is beyond the budget for many people because rural wages are significantly lower. “The drive and ambition to make the change is there in our rural communities.  The politicians now need to prioritise these voters when it comes to infrastructure investment.”

You can download the report Electric vehicle infrastructure: analysing the challenge in powering England’s plug-in revolution, here.