New-build Properties in UK to Feature EV Chargers

EV chargers will be built into all new homes and offices under new legislation that the British government aims to introduce this year.

The legislation, revealed last week by the Transport Minister Rachel Maclean, will require all new-build properties to feature “smart” charging devices that can automatically charge vehicles during off-peak periods.

New office blocks will need to install a charge point for every five parking spaces. The new law is likely to make England the first country in the world to require all new homes to have EV chargers, according to media reports.

The move aims to drastically increase the rate at which charge points are being built so Boris Johnson’s Government can hit its 2030 target for banning sales of new petrol and diesel cars.

The ministers have recently admitted that only around 500 plug-in points are being installed every month – way below the 700 a day industry bodies say are needed.

The UK government said last year that it will pump £1.3 billion into scaling-up the rollout of charge points for electric vehicles in homes, streets and motorways across the country. The investment is aimed at boosting large scale adoption of fully electric vehicles, so that the sales of new fossil-fuel vehicles can be banned 2030 onwards, as per the government’s plan.

While the government proposed to mandate that all new homes have a charge point with a parking space in 2019, the new legislation is expected to be executed in 2022.

‘We will publish our consultation response on requiring all new residential and non-residential buildings to have a charge point and we intend to lay legislation later this year,’ Maclean said.

‘We also confirmed our intention to mandate that home and workplace electric vehicle chargers must be capable of smart charging.’

It is much cheaper to re-charge electric cars at home. But about a third of households in Britain have no off-street parking. The new legislation is likely to help mitigate the issue to some extent.