Following a delay to the UK's industrial strategy until the end of June, David Hall, VP Power Systems for Schneider Electric UK & Ireland, comments on the government's ambitions for energy security and economic growth.
Sirs,
The forthcoming Industrial Strategy and associated sector plans will prove critical for business confidence and policy clarity.
They will enable manufacturers to plan future output and further investments in the UK to help deliver the Government’s ambitions for energy security and economic growth.
Closer collaboration between businesses, policy makers and the energy sector will be integral to ensure we develop trust and certainty in long-term plans.
We also need to see increased investment into Britain’s EV charging infrastructure.
Electric vehicles will play a fundamental role in meeting the country’s ambitious 2035 target, where 100 per cent of new cars sold in the UK will be zero emission.
Our recent research found that while UK councils are increasing investment in EV infrastructure by as much as 42 per cent year-on-year, only 15 per cent of councils could report that all their EV chargers are operational.
Many councils across Britain could greatly benefit from the ability to track EV charger performance, detect faults or outages, and even enable remote repairs.
A lack of reliable charging infrastructure could dissuade potential customers from buying an EV in future and hinder a wide-scale EV transition.
Targeted government support and investment in this area will enable the UK to create a dependable charging ecosystem, reinforcing public trust in the shift to electric transport.
David Hall
VP Power Systems
Schneider Electric UK & Ireland
