How the presence of public charging infrastructure can impact the adoption rate of electric vehicles in the UK

Abstract

In the current work, the presence of public charging facilities and their impact on the adoption rate of Electric Vehicle (EV) are studied across 363 Local Authorities (LA) districts in the UK. This analysis is conducted utilizing the data from the UK government on the location of public electric vehicle chargepoints in various LAs as well as the EV ownership rate between years 2011 and 2021. Various rural, urban and extra urban (e.g. London) regions are analyzed to assess whether EV ownership has been impacted as the charging infrastructure is rolled out in these regions. The quarterly data on the number of licensed Ultra Low Emission Vehicles (ULEV) in each UK local authority is used to track EV ownership levels. The results indicate that the publicly available charging points stimulate the diffusion of EV adoption; however, this varies by region and saturation. The reverse effect of EV ownership on charging infrastructure rollout by Local Authorities cannot be entirely rejected; however, the positive stimulus of public infrastructure on adoption of EV is established. The findings can provide the UK policy makers with insight into the public charging infrastructure requirements and benefits in short to medium term to meet the committed emission reduction targets by 2035 and 2050.