Neil Barton, senior vice president, sales, Europe at ChargePoint, on what the landmark two million zero-emission vehicles achievement means for future charging infrastructure needs.

It was fantastic to see the Department for Transport’s report last week highlighting how a major milestone in the UK’s transition to electric vehicles has been passed.

The data revealed that, as of December last year, there were 2,012,000 licensed zero-emission vehicles on our roads – the first time the total has gone over two million. Of course, now, five months later, the assumption is the total will be even higher – but how do we in the EV charging industry continue to support that momentum?

We know the growth is being driven in large part by company car fleets, and so I want to focus on just two of the answers which are relevant to that audience.

Part of the reason the UK has reached two million EVs is because there has been a big rise in the installation and commissioning of ultra-rapid chargers – that’s 150kW and above – particularly in the form of charging hubs on the UK’s motorways and A-road network.

This is great news for corporate EV drivers who regularly travel the country for work; it gives them confidence that they can find somewhere appropriate to plug in when they need to, and can fit a stop into their daily schedule.

However, access to a charge point is only half the story. When drivers do park up, the unit has to be working – and this is my second point.

The Public Charge Point Regulations 2023 stipulate a 99% average annual uptime for rapid chargers (50kW+), and it’s a commitment that ChargePoint fully embraces across our global operations. Operational excellence remains a core pillar of our three-year plan, and progress here is tangible.

The rollout of innovative products such as ChargePoint Protect, to alert site operators to criminal activity, and other safety measures contribute to high reliability. That means top levels of customer satisfaction, which in turn leads to more drivers choosing to go electric.

The pace of change is getting faster, and we at ChargePoint welcome that.