Emerging ‘EV hotspots’ revealed by Midlands Connect

Research from Sub-national Transport Body Midlands Connect shows projected EV ‘hotspots’ across the Midlands by the end of the decade. 
Projections from Midlands Connect has found top ‘EV hotspots’ across the Midlands by the year 2030, with local authorities across both the West and East Midlands taking top rankings.

Projections suggest that the Midlands local authority area with the highest levels of EV adoption will be Leicester, with over 140,000 electric cars and large goods vehicles (LGVs) on its roads by the end of the decade. The majority of EVs are projected to be found north of the city centre and west of Belgrave.

This is closely followed by Birmingham, with just under 130,000 estimated electric vehicles to potentially using the road network across the city. Popular hotspots are predicted to be Sutton Coldfield, south of Erdington and Perry Barr. Sitting south of Birmingham, Solihull is the third ‘EV hotspot’, with 111,000 EVs predicted to be used in the area by 2030.

Fourth and fifth spaces are expected to be Chesterfield and Harborough District, Leicestershire, with projections of 103,000 and 64,000 EVs respectively.

The projections used the Electric vehicle charging infrastructure (EVCI) tool, which aids local authorities in visualising areas where EV uptake will increase and more EV charge points may be needed to create a robust charging network. It was published by Transport for the North and is shared by all Sub-national Transport Bodies.

The figures were made today (11 March) as part of Midlands Connect’s EV Conference, which brought together senior leaders to discuss emerging technologies and topics of interest across the EV sector.

Future of Roads Minister Lilian Greenwood said:

“We‘re supporting the take-up of electric vehicles and the rollout of chargers across the Midlands, and we’ve just announced over £40m to roll out more than 16,000 local chargers across the region, as part of more than 100,000 right across England. 

“We’re investing more than £2.3bn to help industry and consumers make the switch, including across the Midlands, creating jobs, tapping into a multi-billion pound industry and making the UK a clean energy superpower as part of our Plan for Change.”