THERE are more public electric vehicle charging points in Dudley than there were two years ago, new figures show.

The Government aims to phase out petrol and diesel-powered cars by 2030 but, with battery electric vehicles planned to account for all car sales by 2035, it has faced criticism from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, which says there are not enough charging points for many people to buy electric vehicles.

Department for Transport figures show there were 38 publicly provided charging points across Dudley on January 1 – up from 32 two years ago.

They were among 28,375 installed across the UK at the start of this year, up from 16,505 in January 2020.

Dudley residents had also installed 934 at-home charging points through the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme as of January 1 – a 159 per cent increase over the last two years, further DfT figures outline.

The scheme gives applicants a 75 per cent grant towards the cost of installing the charging point up to £350.

There have also been 101 charging points installed at workplaces.

But with residents requiring "designated, private off-street parking" for the Homecharge Scheme, the SMMT has argued for more investment for those who only have on-street parking.

Across the West Midlands, 430 charging points have been fitted as a part of the On-Street Residential Scheme, to which local authorities can apply to fund installations.

A further 412 applications have been approved since April 2019, but installation remains incomplete.

The Government announced major investment plans in charging infrastructure last month, totalling £1.6 billion.

Plans include the £950 million Rapid Charging Fund to install more than 6,000 rapid chargers on England's motorways, and a £450 million Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure fund to address the shortfall of local charging points; and by 2030 the Government aims to provide 300,000 public charging points.