EVs may have received another boost, with the government set to make EV charge-points a legal requirement for new-build homes, as well as new supermarkets and business premises and any building undergoing major refurbishment.

Announcing the measure at the CBI Annual Conference yesterday (Monday 22 November), Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “We will require new homes and buildings to have EV charging points, with another 145,000 charging points to be installed thanks to these regulations.”

He added: “We are investing in new projects to turn wind power into hydrogen and our net zero strategy is expected to trigger about £90 billion of private sector investment, driving the creation of high wage high skilled jobs as part of our mission to unite and level up across the country.”

However, according to Matthew Lumsden, CEO of battery energy storage systems supplier Connected Energy, businesses need to proceed cautiously: “Many sites will discover that their electricity supply is not optimised for EV charging points. At this moment they need to be aware of the green solutions available to them. For example, there have been reports of businesses using diesel generators to supply EV charging points. This is clearly madness.

He added: “We must not allow a sticking plaster or piecemeal approach to be adopted. This is an opportunity to look at an entire business site and switch to a green solution, with photo voltaic (PV) energy generation and a battery energy storage system (BESS) behind the meter to support the EV charging point.”