Fewer than half (44%) of commuter-focused car parks in England have charging infrastructure for electric cars.

The Electric Car Scheme says operators of park-and-ride stations or business parks should explore EV charging infrastructure

That’s according to new UK-wide research that also studied total UK park-and-rides and business parks and found less than 1% of over 12,000 spaces had charge points.

Latest SMMT figures show that 16.9% of new car registrations were for fully electric cars while a further 5.5% were for plug-in hybrids.

But the inaugural Commuter Car Park Report, carried out by The Electric Car Scheme salary sacrifice specialist, shows far more needs to be done to help and encourage motorists make the switch to electric.

Commuter car parks in Scotland offered more charging points than in England, with 60% of commuter car parks in Scotland assessed having charge points, compared to 44% of England’s and just 25% in Wales. This mirrors the overall statistics for charge points, with Scotland enjoying 60 charge points per 100,000 people – well above England’s 53.

The company is urging for more action on infrastructure and tax settings to encourage more drivers to clean up their commute and help meet UK net zero goals.

CEO and co-founder Thom Groot commented: “The Electric Car Scheme exists to make the switch to electric more affordable, and while great progress is being made, the infrastructure needs to move faster in order to meet the UK’s Net Zero goals. It’s worrying that only 1% of public car spaces in commuter belts offer charging points when currently 16% of new cars sold are electric.

“Fossil fuel car infrastructure has had a century-long head-start, so we need everyone to pitch in to help make the switch as smooth as possible. People who run park-and-ride stations or business parks should consider introducing new charging infrastructure.

“And the Government should move urgently to extend the tax benefit that currently makes leasing new electric cars attractive for employees – which is currently set to run out in 2025.

“Germany has guaranteed their similar rate until 2030, giving those signing up for multi-year leases a lot more certainty as they are the first into the water while infrastructure is not fully up and running. Why can’t the UK do the same or better?”