More investment is needed in UK public electric vehicle charging infrastructure, car makers said, as sales continued to grow last month.
Plug-in cars represented 28.1% of UK new car sales in November, with 21,726 battery EV vehicle (BEV) registrations and 10,796 plug-in hybrids (PHEV).
In total 115,706 new cars registered in November, up 1.7% on the same month of last year, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) revealed today, but down 31.3% on the pre-pandemic five-year average.
So far in 2021, of the 1.54mln new cars registered, 17.5% have been BEV or PHEV, the industry body said, meaning one in six new cars is capable of being plugged in.
When combined with the 9% hybrid electric vehicles, 26.5% of the new car market during 2021 has been electrified.
However, the pace of on-street public charging infrastructure is lagging, the SMMT said, based on its latest analysis.
The number of plug-in cars potentially sharing a public on-street charger deteriorating from 11 to 16 between 2019 and 2020, the SMMT found.
There was just one standard on-street public charger installed for every 52 new plug-in cars registered over the course of this year, the industry body added.
Moves to accelerate the installation of EV infrastructure in the past year have included a proposal by the government last month for all new homes and buildings to be required to have charging points from next year.
In the summer, electricity regulator Ofgem said distribution companies will invest £300mln into a project to more than triple the UK’s electric vehicle charging capacity with 1,800 new ultra-fast points at motorway service stations and a further 1,750 in cities and towns including Glasgow, Kirkwall, Warrington, Llandudno, York and Truro.
In October the government announced it will provide an additional £620mln of funding for EVs, including zero emission vehicle grants and EV infrastructure, including local EV infrastructure with a focus on local on-street residential charging.
For investors to access this market there are a few London-listed companies involved in electric charging, with the only specialist being Pod Point Group Holdings PLC (LSE:PODP), which floated last month.
Rather than public charging points, Pod Point is a specialist in installing home and workplace charging points, with an estimated market share of 50-60% market share of the domestic market and around 20% of workplace.
EO Charging, an English designer of electric vehicle equipment, has agreed to float on New York’s NASDAQ via a merger with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) called First Reserve Sustainable Growth Corp.
EO, was founded by former Pod Point marketing manager Charlie Jardine, has 50,000 chargers in more than 35 countries as it positions itself as “the ultimate plug-in charging partner for any business", with customers including Amazon, DHL, GoAhead, Tesco and Uber.
Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) also said it will start to allow drivers of other brands to use its electric vehicle charging network this year in all countries.
Otherwise the largest exposure to the sector is probably via Royal Dutch Shell, which recently said it aims to install 50,000 on-street chargers in the UK by the end of 2025, and BP PLC (LSE:BP.).