Britain needs a ‘strong blueprint’ to support electric car demand

Ministers must provide a ‘strong blueprint’ on how to roll out the electric vehicle charging infrastructure Britain ‘craves’, according to Nat Rothschild.

The billionaire financier and chairman of Volex, which makes power cords and charging plugs for EVs, has joined calls for the UK to take advantage of rising demand for plug-in cars.

While the Government aims to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030, there are fears that Britain’s EV revolution is stalling for lack of evenly distributed public charging points.

Rothschild said: ‘Volex is seeing real momentum here – our order books are strong and our products have never been in more demand, so much so that we now have four sites involved in the manufacture of EV products across the globe. 

‘The opportunity is clear – what we need is a strong blueprint from government as to how to roll out the EV infrastructure the UK craves.

‘It’s a great opportunity to roll into future industries and, in turn, secure more long-term skilled jobs and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.’ 

But he also warned that the Government is under increasing pressure to meet its ‘ambitious’ net-zero targets as consumers ‘are becoming increasingly aware of the environmental importance of their daily commutes’.

Volex will update the market on its financial year on Thursday. It expects revenues of £554m – a rise of 15.5 per cent higher, with profits of £51m 17.4 per cent up.