EV infrastructure company Chargemaster, has announced it will provide 4,000 charging points across 100 towns and cities in the UK by the end of 2012.
So far Britain has about 1,000 charging points through the Government-backed scheme Plugged in Places; therefore the new programme, called Polar, will significantly increase the country's infrastructure.
It will mean cities such as Bristol receive charging points for the first time and provide the UK with one of the biggest charging networks in the world. At present, the US has about 2,000 charging points and its only private-funded locations are in Texas.
Philip Hammond, the Transport Secretary, speaking to the Daily Telegraph said: "This is exactly the kind of private-sector-led initiative that we need to drive the development of our national network of recharging infrastructure, and this is another great example of how UK enterprise is leading the charge."
Users of Polar will pay a monthly subscription of roughly £20 and then 90p to charge their car with up to 100 miles of power.
Chargemaster is led by David Martell, who floated the traffic detection business Trafficmaster. Mr Martell owns more than 60pc of the company.
Chargemaster believes the Polar network will cost £10m to roll out and says it has secured the funding from internal sources. It aims to generate revenues and profits from the fees paid to use the service.
The company will place the charging points at supermarkets, hotels and car parks after agreeing partnership deals with retailers such as Asda, J Sainsbury and Waitrose.
Mr Martell said: "We believe this is very important because it will put the UK on the map as a hotspot for electric vehicle infrastructure. It will have a huge influence on car makers when they are choosing where to launch an electric car."
The Chargemaster stations are in addition to the 1,000 existing stations and the Zero Carbon World initiative to install a further 1,000 32 amp stations by the same date, plus the existing government funded commitments via other suppliers. Combined, this could put the UK back in to a leadership position globally for EV infrastructure.
The Chargemaster stations are in addition to the 1,000 existing stations and the Zero Carbon World initiative to install a further 1,000 32 amp stations by the same date, plus the existing government funded commitments via other suppliers. Combined, this could put the UK back in to a leadership position globally for EV infrastructure.
