Number of Doncaster electric vehicle charging points rises over last two years

As people are urged to "invest in our planet" for Earth Day 2022, the Government is aiming to entirely phase out petrol and diesel-powered cars by 2030.

But with battery electric vehicles planned to account for all car sales by 2035, it has faced criticism from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, which says there are not enough charging points for many people to purchase electric vehicles.

Department for Transport figures show there were 65 publicly provided charging points in Doncaster on January 1 – up from 43 two years ago.

They were among 28,375 installed across the UK at the start of this year, up from 16,505 in January 2020.

Doncaster residents had also installed 810 at-home charging points through the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme as of January 1 – a 170 per cent increase over the last two years, further Department for Transport figures outline.

The scheme gives applicants a 75 per cent grant towards the cost of installing the charging point up to £350.

There have also been 109 charging points installed at workplaces.

But with residents requiring "designated, private off-street parking" for the Homecharge Scheme, the SMMT has argued for more investment for those who only have on-street parking available.

Across Yorkshire and The Humber, only 25 charging points have been fitted as a part of the On-Street Residential Scheme, to which local authorities can apply to fund installations.

A further 72 applications have been approved since April 2019, but installation remains incomplete.

On April 22, events are taking place around the world for Earth Day 2022, with a focus on encouraging businesses, including in the motoring sector, to invest in sustainable products and enterprises.

Separate figures from the SMMT show there are now more than 460,000 battery-electric cars in the UK, more than double the number two years before.

On average, an electric car will emit around one-third less carbon dioxide than an equivalent petrol or diesel car, Transport & Environment, a European clean transport campaign group, says.