Help make life easier for electric vehicle owners, ministers told

Electric vehicle owners’ lives should be made easier by the creation of a universal standard for chargers, ministers have been told.

Conservative MP Bill Wiggin (North Herefordshire) warned there are “serious practical impediments” to running an electric car, adding the “main problem” is access to charging points.

He wants existing law to be amended to create an “industry standard” for charging points, while also allowing a “pay as you go” option at each point to make it easier to recharge.

Introducing his Electric Vehicles (Standardised Recharging) Bill, Mr Wiggin told the Commons: “Our goal must be for every car to be able to recharge at every charging point.

“If we can achieve this, we’d allow more people to switch to electric vehicles.”

Mr Wiggin said the problems include various different connectors to attach an electric vehicle to a charging point.

He went on: “I believe it’d be sensible to follow the approach which computer manufacturers took some time ago – and create a universal standard for connectors to electric vehicles.

“Mobile phones, computers, cameras, all manner of computer accessories have individualised ports on the device but they all connect to the power in through a USB port – we should apply this to electric vehicles and create a universal standard for car chargers.”

Mr Wiggin said ministers should use powers already in law to create uniformity among charging points, adding: “And so make the lives of electric vehicle users easier.”

He was allowed to introduce his Bill and asked for it to receive a second reading on March 8 2019, although it is unlikely to progress in its current form due to a lack of parliamentary time for private members’ bills.