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Infrastructure strategy includes £1bn to facilitate national EV charging network

Published December 2, 2020

UK chancellor Rishi Sunak has set out plans to spend £100bn on a green transport infrastructure and upgrading the country’s roads and railways and full-fibre broadband cables.  

The infrastructure strategy includes a £950m investment to improve the electricity grid along motorways. It is hoped this will encourage private companies to install EV charging points at every motorway service area by 2023. The strategy also includes £120m for 500 new green buses.  

The money is key to the UK government’s attempts to meet its commitment to be a net zero economy by 2050 while rebuilding the economy and creating thousands of jobs in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.  

A new national infrastructure bank, based in the north of England, will distribute the public money across the UK’s regions, alongside private investment. The bank will help deliver the UK’s net zero targets, while ensuring money finds its way to projects in previously overlooked regions of the country.  

The infrastructure strategy will also invest £7.1bn into building new roads, cycle lanes and community facilities. By 2025, 4G broadband will be rolled out in 95% of the UK. Taken together, it is hoped this activity will stimulate the building of up to 860,000 new homes in new housing developments.  

The week before, Prime Minister Boris Johnson set out a 10-point plan for a climate backed by £12bn of funding, including about £4bn of new spending commitments. 

Tags EV charging Rishi Sunak