The UK is one of the best-prepared countries in Europe for the ‘EV revolution’, although charging infrastructure continues to be a major roadblock.

the UK remains one of the top three best prepared European countries for the EV revolution

LeasePlan’s 2021 EV Readiness Index has the UK remains one of the top three best prepared European countries for the EV revolution, behind only Norway and The Netherlands. The research provides a comprehensive analysis of the preparedness of 22 European countries for EV uptake, based on three factors: EV registrations, the maturity of EV infrastructure, and government incentives in each country.

The UK is one of the few leading the charge when it comes to total cost of ownership; thanks to government incentives like 0% Benefit-in-Kind tax, the UK scored ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ across the board.

However, despite some progress being made in 2020 on charging infrastructure, the rate of improvement actually dropped across Europe compared to last year (43% increase rate in 2020 compared to 73% increase in 2019). Plus, looking at public chargers relative to population, the UK sits in 10th place behind leading countries such as The Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, and Sweden.

Alfonso Martinez, managing director of LeasePlan UK, said: “It’s great to see the UK ranking as one of the top three countries in Europe for EV readiness, but that doesn’t mean we don’t still have a long way to go. A lack of charging infrastructure continues to be a real barrier to adoption, particularly in rural areas. The UK needs to address this and deliver on a strategy that takes the entire population into consideration, otherwise we risk falling behind. Now is the time to make a difference, and it needs to happen fast. We’ve seen the positive impact of cleaner roads and less emissions during the pandemic, so let’s keep going and ensure these learnings weren’t in vain. The pressure is on for leaders within businesses and the government alike to accelerate EV adoption – a giant step in helping to save our planet.”

Most nations saw vast improvement in their score this year, but the rate of which varies significantly across the continent, with Romania, Slovakia and the Czech Republic having both the lowest scores and the slowest improvement rate. This underlines the continued disparity between Western and Eastern Europe in terms of EV readiness.

The EV Readiness Index 2021 is published as part of LeasePlan’s new ‘What’s next in EVs’ report.

On Friday 5 March, LeasePlan will host a ‘What’s next in EVs’ webinar, including an industry update by Robert Llewellyn of Fully Charged, as well as LeasePlan’s chief commercial officer, Berno Kleinherenbrink. For more details and to register, click here.