Burning oil is damaging to our planet - our home.

Our climate is changing and poor air quality is harming us. We must rapidly reduce our carbon emissions and our transport fleet remains a significant emission source – we need to move on from the internal combustion engine (ICE).

We want to see a society benefiting from the wide-spread use of clean, low-cost transport and greater self-reliance in the way we power that transport; people travelling in affordable, zero emission/low carbon vehicles powered by renewable energy that we generate in Wales; keeping more of the costs paid to use that transport in our local economy.

The electric vehicle (EV) is the transport of the 21st century and charging the car will become a familiar routine. The price of EVs is falling and they are cheap to run – about 50% less than an equivalent ICE vehicle, and the technology is rapidly evolving.

Currently there are over 100 models to choose from and about 300,000 registered EVs in the UK – predicted to rise to 6 million by 2030 according to UK Government forecast. The Welsh Government expect that 60% of new private car sales in Wales will be electric vehicles by 2030.

And with our abundance of renewable energy we could keep the whole country on the road with clean power. Yet Wales is falling behind our neighbours with fewer registered EVs and fewer charge points per capita than the rest of the UK.

“TrydaNi is community energy’s opportunity to deal with the challenges faced in developing an effective infrastructure for painless charging and decarbonisation of Wales’ transport.”  – Dr Neil Lewis

Wales is a largely rural country with a dispersed population, relatively weak public transport provision and high dependency on private vehicles.

Many old diesels may see out their time in Wales, but tax disincentives are likely to mean more expensive motoring for many and restrictions will increase on driving ICE vehicles into our towns and cities, with drivers of ‘dirty cars’ stigmatised as polluters.

However, not everyone can make the switch to electric yet and EV adoption can be challenging in Wales. The electricity grid is insufficient and our housing can lack off-street parking, preventing charging at home.

40% of Welsh households don’t have off-road space to charge their vehicles.

Currently, venturing off the motorways to cross the country by EV is for the more intrepid motorist, with only a few working rapid charge points available – and when you’re far from home, you want to know you can get to your destination.

We need to work together to develop an EV charging infrastructure fit for our future, and urgently. Without it, the transition to EVs will stall.