The installation of electric vehicle (EV) charging points in the UK must increase by five times the current rate to achieve the government’s phase out of diesel and petrol engines by 2030.

According to a report published Tuesday by think-tank Policy Exchange, the UK will require approximately 400,000 public charge points, including around 6,000 high-powered charge points, by 2030. This means the current rate of 7,000 new charge point installations per year must increase to 35,000 to keep pace with the demand of increased numbers of EVs.

The UK government plans to phase out the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles by the start of the next decade and the report states that as such, public charge points have a “critical role” to play, Kallanish reports. Without significantly increased investment, the report states that a lack of EV charge points presents a major barrier to achieving the government’s objective.

Policy Exchange estimates that the required number of annual charge point installations by 2030 would need between £5-10 billion ($6.8-13.6 billion) in private sector investment beyond the £1.3 billion of public funds committed by the government.

The report recommends that the UK government issue tenders for long-term contracts to private companies to install charge points where coverage is sparse to avoid blackspots and promote further investment in EV charging infrastructure.

“The government’s current programme of grants is unlikely to deliver the required increase in installations, in part because the grants do not give charge point operators any additional certainty over their annual revenue, which is a major barrier to investment in charge points,” the report states.

Policy Exchange also recommends that the government fund dedicated ‘Chargepoint Teams’ in local authorities to facilitate the rollout of EV charge points and that a price cap be introduced for charge points that receive government support to regulate pricing and avoid monopolies.

The UK’s transport secretary, Grant Shapps, labelled the country’s EV charging network as “world-class” as he launched on 2 February a £20 million funding for local authorities to install 4,000 public charge points throughout the nation. Provided through the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme, the new funding aims to double the current number of government-supported charge points to around 8,000.