The transport secretary has written to local authorities across the country, urging them to take advantage of funding on offer to build up their electric car charging infrastructure and to increase local access to chargepoints for drivers.

This comes as the Department for Transport publishes a league table of the public electric car charging infrastructure available across the UK and highlighting gaps in provision.

The data shows that London is currently leading the electric vehicle infrastructure revolution nationally, with almost 4,000 public electric vehicle charging devices installed in the region. Scotland has more than 1,500 charging devices, with the North West, South East and South West regions just behind. In these regions Glasgow City, Manchester and Liverpool cities, and Milton Keynes are among the best performing local authorities.

However, provision is patchy and there are still more than 100 local authorities with fewer than 10 public charging devices per 100,000 population.

Overall there are 15,000 charging devices across the country, equating to 22,500 places to charge.

Transport secretary Grant Shapps said: “Your postcode should play no part in how easy it is to use an electric car, and I’m determined electric vehicles become the new normal for drivers.

“It’s good news there are now more charging locations than petrol stations, but the clear gaps in provision are disappointing. I urge local councils to take advantage of all the government support on offer to help ensure drivers in their area don’t miss out.

“To help increase the provision of charging locations, the government is offering grants for the installation of chargepoints on the street, in work and at home. We are also offering grants to lower the upfront cost of these cars so everyone is able to experience the benefits.”

Minister for the future of transport George Freeman added: “Mapping chargepoints and producing a league table of availability by council area is intended to raise awareness.

“There are now more than 22,500 public chargepoints and at least one rapid charge point at over 95% of all motorway services areas.

“To help level up the country, we’ve recently doubled the funding available for councils to build chargepoints on residential streets.”

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