UK’s leading charging infrastructure providers have teamed up to form a new organization called ChargeUK. The aim of this collaboration is to invest more than £6 billion in developing and operating charging infrastructure in the UK by 2030, and to become the “voice of EV charging” in order to have a greater say in politics and negotiations.
ChargeUK’s founding members are comprised of 18 companies, namely Be.EV, Believ, BP Pulse, Char.gy, ChargePoint, Connected Kerb, ESB, Evyve, Fastned, Genie Point, Gridserve, Ionity, Mer, Osprey, Pod Point, PoGo Charge, Raw Charging, and Shell Recharge. These companies have announced that they will build tens of thousands of new chargers by the end of 2023 in order to double the size of the national charging network.
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The formation of ChargeUK is an exciting development for the UK economy, as it reflects the growing size and importance of the electric vehicle charging industry. As ChargeUK’s chairman, Osprey CEO Ian Johnston, said: “We will continue to be a proactive partner to Government as we deliver a world-class charging infrastructure, giving the nation’s drivers confidence to transition to electric vehicles.”
Despite being in competition with each other, the CEOs of the founding members agree that working together is essential. Gridserve CEO Toddington Harper explains that issues of speed of implementation are often down to the speed of grid connections, which were designed for “completely different purposes.” Together, they hope to raise the government’s awareness and push for change more effectively.
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Transport Decarbonisation and Technology Minister Jesse Norman also spoke at the launch, stating that ChargeUK’s members’ ambitious plans will support more people than ever in making the transition to EV. The government’s commitment to decarbonizing transport, backed by hundreds of millions in funding, has helped to unlock private sector investment.
ChargeUK’s formation is a positive development for the UK’s EV charging industry, and it will be interesting to see how it shapes policies and regulations in the coming years.
