BRADFORD Council are determined to install more electric vehicle (EV) charging points after it was revealed the city are behind in their rollout plan.

EV ownership is on the rise in Bradford with Department for Transport figures showing 1,103 were licensed to addresses at the end of September 2020 – up by 47% from 749 the previous year.

From the start of January, the city only had 95 public charging points. That is a rate of 18 per 100,000 people, lower than the UK average of 31.

From the 5,700 devices that has been installed in the UK since October 2019 – when figures began at a local authority level – only 47 of those were added to supply in Bradford.

Cllr Alex Ross-Shaw, portfolio holder for regeneration, planning and transport, said: “Since August 2019, councils across West Yorkshire have installed over 60 rapid chargers and of these 18 were installed in sites across Bradford district with a further four locations planned as part of this project.

"The project was slightly delayed in 2020 because of changes in working practices due to the pandemic and lockdown restrictions.

“We have planning policies in place to ensure new housing and supermarket developments incorporate EV charging points.

"We have also set aside a further £35,887.27 through the community infrastructure levy to install more public EV charging points and we are now focussing on delivering more neighbourhood charging points in residential locations.”

A report by the Policy Exchange says the speed of the rollout needs to increase from the current rate, 20,800 in the UK at the start of this year, to meet the planned ban on new petrol and diesel cars in 2030.

In a bid to further boost numbers, transport minister Grant Shapps announced an extra £20 million was to be made available for local authorities.

A DfT spokesperson added: "This Government has committed £1.3 billion to rolling out charging infrastructure, and we would urge councils to use the funding we have made available to ensure their residents can access charge points.

"We have already supported the installation of more than 150,000 residential and almost 21,000 public charge points, and with further funding announced last week, even more people are set to benefit from better charge point access."

Thinktank the Policy Exchange says there are still charging "blackspots" in regions across the UK, adding the speed of installations needs to increase to meet growing demand.

It also found a gap in coverage of the charging points across the UK, claiming the Government's funding scheme for local authorities had not been evenly distributed.

The DfT acknowledged the "uneven" distribution of devices across the UK in a report accompanying the latest figures, which were produced from the platform Zap-Map covering 95% of publicly accessible charging-points.

Mr Shapps said the extra £20 million cash for local authorities will see the doubling of 4,000 on-street electric vehicle charging points already funded by the Government.

He added: "With a world-leading charging network, we're making it easier for people to switch to electric vehicles, creating healthier neighbourhoods and cleaning up our air as we build back greener."