Stores can help with electric vehicle charging, says ACS

ACS chief executive James Lowman, responding to the latest update on government plans to de-carbonise the economy, welcomed the efforts but highlighted difficulties for stores.

He said: “Convenience stores, especially those operating on petrol forecourts, have an important role to play in the electric vehicle charging rollout but there are still significant barriers for stores looking to invest in this service offering.

“The pace of change in electric charging solutions is extremely fast, leading a lot of retailers to take a ‘wait and see’ approach instead of investing in something that could be obsolete in a few years’ time.

“We welcome the Government’s acknowledgement of some of the barriers to the EV rollout, and will continue to work with the Department for Transport to find the right balance of EV charging provision in our sector.”

“Decarbonising Britain: A Better, Greener Plan”, sets out the Government’s ambition to expand the UK’s electric charging infrastructure while phasing out the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles.

“As part of the plan, the Government has committed £950m to a Rapid Charging Fund to upgrade grid capacity at service stations on motorways and A-roads.

Lowman said: “Figures from Zap-Map show that there are currently around 25,000 electric charging devices in the UK at over 15,000 locations – over 30% of which are in Greater London.”

As well as addressing policy related to electric vehicles, the plan explores ways of decarbonising distribution systems.

ACS will be working with colleagues in convenience stores’ supply chains to promote workable approaches to meeting net zero objectives.