UK chargepoints for electric vehicles will increase tenfold by 2030, surpassing the number of fuel pumps on the country’s roads today, the government said on Friday.

Releasing its Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy, the government announced its commitment to invest £1.6 billion ($2.11 billion) to expand EV charging infrastructure. By 2030, 300,000 public EV chargepoints should be available, which is nearly five times the current number of fuel pumps in the country, Kallanish notes.

The government is mandating that operators provide real-time data about chargepoints such as prices and locations.

Some £500 million will be invested in the deployment of public chargepoints across the UK. This includes a $450m Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) fund to boost projects such as EV hubs and innovative on-street charging. In a pilot scheme for the LEVI fund, local authorities will bid for a share of £10m in funding to work with industry in public charging opportunities.

Funding of £50m will also cover staff requirements to work on local challenges and public charging infrastructure planning. The existing £950m Rapid Charging Fund will support the roll-out of at least 6,000 super-fast chargers across English motorways by 2035.

“Drivers are at the heart of the revolutionary plan, with rigorous new standards and legislation being introduced to improve people’s experience of using public chargepoints,” says the Department of Transport.

The government notes that even with recent trends in electricity prices, EVs still benefit from lower fuel, running and maintenance costs compared to ICE equivalents. Production costs also continue to fall and some analysts expect purchase price parity with petrol and diesel cars to be reached well within the 2020s, it adds.

Market observers welcomed the strategy but said more is needed to enable net zero road transport. Automotive tradebody SMMT says “binding targets must be set for infrastructure provision.”

Pilgram Beart, ceo of DevicePilot, comments the tenfold expansion is “a start, but the UK is still deeply divided between the EV haves and have-nots.”

Aidan McClean, ceo of UFODRIVE, said the strategy is “highly welcome yet frustratingly light on details.”