Electric Vehicles: Sheffield is 'not ready' for the switch to EVs according to research by The Independent

Sheffield is not ready for the switch to electric vehicles (EVs) after getting a "dismal" score following research by The Independent Advisor Car Insurance.

The national newspaper has found the city currently has just one EV charger for every 6,174 people and is the worst prepared of all the UK's core cities - officially ranking sixth in the country behind towns like Huddersfield, Blackpool and Middlesborough.

Just 30 per cent of those chargers were found to be free to use and, on average, chargers in Sheffield take two hours and 37 minutes to fully charge a vehicle.

Blackpool, the area deemed the least prepared for electric vehicles, was given a score of 1.81 out of 10 by the Independent's experts - Sheffield scored 2.42.

Take up of EVs is steadily increasing across the UK. Government targets published in January aim to have 100 per cent of all new cars and vans sold in the UK to be zero emissions by 2035.

It is hoped 80 per cent of new cars sold and 70 per cent of new vans sold will be zero emissions five years before in 2030 - it is estimated there will be between 8million and 11million EVs in use in the UK by this point.

In March 2024, Sheffield City Council announced a brand new plan to expand the vehicle charging network in the city, adding 22 new charge points to their 236 public points they already have.

Councillor Ben Miskell, Chair of the Transport, Regeneration and Climate Committee, said: “The use of electric vehicles around Sheffield will be a complete game changer for the city and will go a long way to reducing air pollution and protecting people from the effects of breathing in dirty air. 

"We have already seen the number of the most polluting vehicles in our Clean Air Zone fall by two thirds within the first year of the project and the Council has been helping businesses clean up their fleet with several grant schemes."

The plan was discussed by the Transport, Regeneration and Climate Committee on Wednesday.