The Government’s long-awaited EV Infrastructure Strategy has been greeted by the Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP), which says the plans deliver “most of” the measures that it’s been campaigning for.

The AFP said we need more chargers of the right type in the right locations to support the massive EV rollout of cars and vans to which the fleet sector is committed

Announced last week, the Strategy commits £1.6bn to the creation of 300,000 public charge points by 2030, including a new £450m Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) fund for local authorities to expand charge point provision in their area.

It also places new legal responsibilities on charging providers covering means of payment and other factors.

AFP chair Paul Hollick said: “We need more chargers of the right type in the right locations to support the massive EV rollout of cars and vans to which the fleet sector is committed.

“It’s an area in which we have been campaigning heavily, including conversations with the Government, and we are pleased to see that most of what we have been asking for is covered in the new announcement.”

Hollick added that the challenge now is to ensure that the rollout promised in the strategy happens at the right pace, matching the development of the EV parc in terms of both numbers and location of charge points.

“We also need to ensure that the right type of charge points are available, especially those with larger bays that can handle larger electric vans,” he continued. “This is something that is essential for fleet adoption of these vehicles.”

Hollick also said that the AFP’s Kerbside Charging Group would be reporting within four to six weeks on its work into the creation of a national ‘heat map’ showing where driver demand for kerbside charging was required.

“We’ve drawn in data covering something like 70,000 drivers of company cars and vans who live in apartments or terraced housing, don’t have the option of installing off-road charging, and need access to kerbside facilities.

“The aim of the Kerbside Charging Group is to ensure that there is a safe and secure kerbside facility within a five-minute walk of their homes. The creation of the heat map is a significant step in this process, we believe, and we will be sharing the data with national and local government as well as charge point operators.

“Our intention is that the new information is fed into the new government strategy and used as a detailed guide to where charging provision is most urgently needed.”

Advice on car and van electrification from the AFP can be found here.