Britain needs more charging points for electric cars, warns Ford boss

The Ford boss has warned that the switch to electric cars could be derailed by a lack of charging points.

The government has laid out plans to end sales of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030, while providing at least 300,000 charging points.

However, the latest vehicle registration data suggests that electric vehicles (EVs) are being produced much faster than the introduction of charging points can handle.

Refueling: The government plans to end sales of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030, providing at least 300,000 charging points

Lisa Brankin has been appointed Managing Director of Ford UK & Ireland for 2020

Lisa Brankin, Ford’s chief executive officer in the UK and Ireland, warned that seeing massive queues at charging stations could put drivers off buying electric vehicles.

“If we’re going to go 100 percent electric vehicles, we really need an abundance of public charging infrastructure and I’m not sure there’s a plan that will allow for that,” she told the Financial Times.

‘We [Ford] spent billions of dollars on electric vehicles, it’s coming fast now and we need it.’

Brankin’s comments come as experts question the nationwide adoption of electric vehicle chargers.

Almost a third of UK charging points are in London, with Westminster having more than Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Leeds, Sheffield and Birmingham combined.

Andrew Brem, general manager of Uber UK, said it was a “social embarrassment” that EV charging stations were concentrated in more affluent parts of the country.