UK Offers EV Subsidy

Saturday, 07 August 2010 19:23

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In a show of support for green transportation, beginning in January 2011, consumers who buy electric vehicles will be eligible for a 25 percent discount on the price of the car up to the value of £5,000 to be subsidized by the UK government.  Besides price, however, there are still concerns over the number of miles a car gets on a charge and availability of roadside charging stations. POD Point, the UK’s fastest growing provider of electric charging, is working to establish the necessary infrastructure to accommodate the estimated 274,000 EVs that will be on UK roads by 2020.

POD Point currently has 128 charging bays already installed across the country and plan to have over 1000 charging bays deployed across the UK by the end of 2010.  In a statement, the company reports, “Our charging units uniquely charge two electric vehicles at any one time and are very simple and easy to use. POD Points are currently installed all around the UK with local councils and London boroughs as well as major retailers such as Best Buy, Sainsbury’s and Tesco.”

Throughout the UK, municipalities and national governments alike are implementing plans to establish EV infrastructure, the company notes. “Transport for London are aiming for 25,000 charging spaces in London’s workplaces, retail outlets, streets, and public car parks by 2015 and the North East of England is rapidly proving itself to be a pioneering region for the electric vehicle community, with targets to install 617 charging points by the beginning of 2011.”

Data from the POD point network in the UK reveals drivers charging patterns, with the majority of EV drivers charging on public charging points between 8am and 5pm and rarely in the evening, “with most charge cycles being fairly small amounts implying a ‘grazing’ behaviour of topping up at several locations when out and about and then utilising cheaper overnight electricity and charging from home. By analysing this, informed decisions can be made on where future infrastructure will be most effective and utilised.”

POD Point is a UK-based electric vehicle charging company.