Heavy charge

The potentially huge cost of the infrastructure needed to support mass adoption of electric cars emerged when technical experts revealed that each recharging point could cost up to £6,500 to install.

Government plans to offer UK drivers up to £5,000 incentives for purchasing plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles could mean a surge of low carbon cars on Britain’s roads when the scheme goes into effect in 2011.

The effort has been championed by the government as a way to help the UK meet its target of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 26 per cent by 2020.

Technical specialists, however, have told The Engineer that the government is spending too much money on incentives to buy electric vehicles and not enough to build up the infrastructure needed to charge them. The £250m strategy only sets aside £20m to install charging points alongside the UK’s roads and inside car parks.

‘It’s good that they’re making a start, but we have a very big task ahead of us,’ said Greg Simmons, the technical director of Elektromotive, a Brighton based manufacturer and installer of charging posts.