The UK’s National Grid is not ready for the increase in demand from electric cars, service station boss warns

The UK’s National Grid is not ready for the increase in demand from electric cars, service station boss warns By Ryan Hooper Published: 00:55 BST, 2 August 2023 | Updated: 00:57 BST, 2 August 2023 e-mail View comments The National Grid is not ready for the increase in demand from electric cars, the boss of service station operator Moto has warned. Ken McMeikan said there was a ‘major, major problem’ getting enough powe r for electric chargers amid concerns the 2030 ban on new diesel and petrol sales will put pressure on infrastructure. Mr McMeikan said it was fine setting targets for the number of electric vehicle charging points at motorway service stations.

But he said there were serious questions about whether the grid had the power to supply them. He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘We have got a situation where you just couldn’t write the script – we have put sufficient chargers on four of our service areas, and the power required is not available. Electric vehicle drivers are turning up and there are chargers sitting there but no power.

’ Moto boss Ken McMeikan said there was a ‘major, major problem’ getting enough power for electric chargers amid concerns about the 2030 ban on new diesel and petrol sales Mr McMeikan said there here were serious questions about whether the grid had the power to supply electric vehicles He added: ‘I think there is a major problem facing the whole industry and this whole transition to electric vehicles which is not being addressed by the Government and the power companies. ‘What people want if they are going to make a switch to electric cars is a reassurance they will have sufficient charging capacity around the whole of the UK to actually make their journeys. ‘Getting the right number of chargers is not a challenge; getting enough power for those chargers to operate well enough for electric vehicle drivers is a major, major problem.

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