Nissan joins Ecotricity to kickstart a national discussion on EV refuelling
Ecotricity, the green energy company specialising in selling clean energy to consumers, has teamed up with Nissan to kick-start a national discussion on electric vehicle (EV) refuelling. The companies plan to develop official refuelling signs that would be recognised by motorists. There are around 9000 electric charging points in the UK, however, motorists often have to go online to locate them. As the number of EVs on the roads increases, Nissan and Ecotricity believe it is the right time to introduce coherent signs across the country to raise awareness of point accessibility and to help drivers locate them. 

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If you own an electric vehicle and you’re away from your usual run of roads, do you know where the nearest refuelling point is? Are you thinking about moving over to an EV, but are put off by the apparent lack of places to ‘refuel’? Nissan and Ecotricity are trying to get the UK government to address these concerns.

Green energy company Ecotricity has teamed up with Nissan to kickstart a national discussion on EV refuelling. They want the government to create a series of official signs that everyone will recognise means there is an electricity charging point nearby.

There are approximately 9000 charging points across the country

At the moment it’s a hit and miss affair, often done online, to find out where the recharging points are. There are approximately 9000 of them across the country but there’s no signage and no agreement on what those signs should be, to indicate where the refuelling points are.

Given the number of EVs on the roads now, perhaps it is time that we introduced a coherent programme across the country. Nissan and Ecotricity want to achieve this for two reasons: one, to simply help drivers find a refuelling point, and two, to raise awareness of how many points there are, to interact with drivers possibly considering the switch to EV.

There’s no EV signage and no agreement on what those signs should be

Nissan UK’s MD, Jim Wright, hopes the government would oversee regulations and agreements, but didn’t expect government to pay for it. He sees that as the job of the private sector, of stakeholders in the automotive and sustainability sectors. He acknowledged that the UK government had already expended resources on EVs in other ways, such as the £5000 support for every EV purchase.