Tom Randall MP praises local business offering free electric charging points

Gedling’s Conservative MP Tom Randall has praised Vehicle Procurements in Mapperley for championing electric car use throughout Gedling by offering free electric car charging to local businesses.

During a debate on alternative fuelled vehicles, Tom Randall MP said: “I am grateful to Malcolm and Mark of Vehicle Procurements in Mapperley in my constituency for building my knowledge of electric vehicles. They run a vehicle leasing business and have been champions of electric car use. They even offer one of their electric charging points to any local business free of charge, and that is a fantastic example of corporate social responsibility.”

In the debate, Gedling’s MP Tom Randall also encouraged better communication of the benefits of electric cars and said: “I do appreciate that there are barriers to the market. Price is an obvious one, but, as with any consumer good, that is falling and will fall over time as more are produced. There are also fears about batteries. We have mobile phones and we worry that their batteries will run out. A car battery running out is an even bigger fear, because that causes more problems. I understand that that is a worry, but most journeys, such as commuting to work or shopping, are local, and there are now more and more electric cars with longer ranges. I saw some in Mapperley with ranges of up to 200 miles that could do significant long journeys.”

“Electric vehicles are therefore becoming increasingly like so-called ordinary motorcars. That confidence will be reinforced by Government funding alongside private sector investment that has provided 24,000 public charging points—one of the largest networks in Europe. I appreciate, however, that more needs to be done to expand that provision. I further understand that charging points will be made compulsory in new homes, and I welcome that.”

Commenting after the debate, Vehicle Procurements in Mapperley said: “Vehicle Procurements is happy that our local member of Parliament, Tom Randall MP, is championing electric cars. The use of BEVs (battery electric vehicles) is positive for the environment, but the growth in use will be determined by two factors: the public’s perception of them as a viable means of daily transport and the infrastructure within the UK to support their use.”

“If the public can see past the negative headlines regarding mileage anxiety their acceptance rate will increase dramatically. The fact is that the public use their cars much less than they think they do. The average daily mileage for any car in 2019 was just 20.3 miles (source: National Travel Survey: England 2019 -https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/906276/national-travel-survey-2019.pdf), which almost all BEVs can easily achieve.”

“However, the increase in use needs to be supported by the increase in infrastructure with Government assistance. Put simply, the more places a member of the public can charge their car, the more likely they are to use it. If the Government, coupled with local councils, can support the installation of charging points at places such as high streets, service stations, supermarkets, leisure centres and in private homes so-called ‘range anxiety’ will become a thing of the past. By way of leading by example Vehicle Procurements has had charging points installed at both of our sites which we offer free use of to owners of all electric vehicles.”