Councils around the UK are dragging their heels as drivers call for new electric vehicle charging infrastructure to be installed across the country.
New research has found that there are currently 28,734 council-owned public EV charging points in the UK, with 10,607 requests for more chargers.
The Freedom of Information request found that more than 50,000 council-owned public electric car chargers are expected to be installed over the next two years.
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It is estimated that 24,687 new EV chargers could be installed between now and 2027.
Drivers are calling on councils to install more electric vehicle chargers
|PA/GETTY
At present, there is just one council-owned EV charger for every 36 electric car drivers in the UK, and with more than one million EVs on the road, many are calling for more chargers to be installed.
According to data from Zapmap, there are more than 84,000 public chargers across the UK, with 1,849 installed in the last month alone.
Almost two in five UK drivers claim that there is poor availability of public chargers in their area.
A further one-third of drivers believe public drivers should be free or subsidised in public spaces to encourage more motorists to ditch their petrol and diesel vehicles.
Greenwich Borough Council, Tower Hamlets Borough Council and Hounslow Borough Council are all committed to installing at least 2,000 chargers over the next two years.
Councils including Brighton and Hove, Newham, Surrey, Barnet, Enfield and Reading have pledged to install at least 1,000.
Rhydian Jones, motoring expert at Confused.com, said: "The UK Government has set ambitious targets to phase out petrol and diesel cars by 2035.
"But our research shows that drivers still feel there’s still a long way to go in building the infrastructure needed to make the switch to electric."
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Respondents to the research reported that electric vehicles were still too expensive and that they couldn't rely solely on public charging options.
This is even more prevalent for motorists who do not have access to a driveway, meaning they are forced to pay more to use public chargers.
Not only are these chargers operated by private companies who can charge more than drivers would pay at home, but the VAT rate is also set at 20 per cent, compared to just five per cent at home.
Even those who already own an EV say they are somewhat reliant on the public charging network, with 59 per cent of home EV charger owners saying they travel to public chargers.
There are more than 84,000 public electric vehicle chargers around the UK
| PADespite this, almost half of the drivers who use public chargers say they have encountered issues, including long wait times, slow chargers and difficulties paying.
Drivers, businesses and councils can now benefit from new rules outlined by Labour, which are designed to remove red tape for the installation of chargers.
People will no longer need to apply for planning permission when installing chargers, helping to accelerate the number of chargers available to drivers.
Commenting on the move, Future of Roads Minister Lilian Greenwood said: "We're cutting down on paperwork to power up the EV revolution so that drivers, businesses and those looking to make the switch will have more chargepoints to power from and less red tape to deal with."