Going Green

I am a green number plate owner. We purchased our silent eco-car back in January 2022 and I am delighted to say that the experience has far exceeded our expectations and, with a couple of European road trips under our belts, we are feeling like confident, seasoned owners. 

The experience has also given us an insight into the extent of EV hesitancy – which was completely unexpected, especially among our peers. We don’t tend to hear the positive EV stories due to news reporting having a built-in bias toward the negative. Real accounts of contented EV owners could help shake off some of the nervousness that is holding EV car ownership back. After all, this is the direction of movement, and we will all make the transition at some point or another.

Despite scepticism, the UK charging infrastructure is growing rapidly, it’s hard not to visibly see this. Many Shell petrol stations are installing EV charging points and rebranding to ‘Shell Recharge Charging Stations’. They also recently converted one of their conventional petrol stations in Fulham into their first UK all-EV charging hub – one of many, I’m sure. We also have a world-first, Energy Superhub located in Oxford. When it opened in July 22, it became Europes “most powerful” EV hub. It currently has 42 fast and ultra-rapid chargers with the potential to scale up as EV adoption increases. Entirely powered with renewable energy, this hub is a vision of the future and the start of a nationwide network.

The government, too, is making efforts to support the electric vehicle transition. Today, as part of their ‘Green Day’ plan, they have pledged £380 million to grow the EV charging network throughout the UK. Another major part of their long term action is the introduction of new building regulations for private charging. As of June ‘22, every new home built and major renovation with parking must have an EV charging point. Charging from home is a game changer, it’s so convenient, move over sliced bread! 

Momentum is continuing to gather. There are so many positive changes happening in our ever-adapting world, with planning applications showing many more improvements ahead. We, at Arrow Planning, submitted in Autumn 2022 two planning applications on behalf of our clients at Arnold White Group for the development of ground-breaking Net Zero Carbon Communities which boast their very own ultra-rapid charging hubs. 100% of the energy needs for the developments will be generated from on-site wind turbines, solar arrays and ground source heating.

And, Arrow Planning are now all in too! We recently purchased our first EV pool car and will soon be installing two charging points at our offices for all our guests and visitors to use.

Hopefully, all these measures will ease range anxiety and facilitate further growth of EV adoption for a cleaner, more sustainable future.

Written by Lia