Accelerating Opportunity: Key Insights from the EV Infrastructure Summit 2025

Tackling critical issues faced by the UK’s EV infrastructure, this year’s EV Infrastructure Summit . Our Co-Founder and Head of Sales, Chris Chamberlain, was invited to attend and shares his key takeaways from the event below.

As part of its portfolio of prestigious infrastructure events, City & Financial Global held its annual EV Infrastructure Summit earlier this week. A fabulous event that brought together senior figures in the future mobility industry, and I was delighted to be invited, as the packed agenda provided some powerful insights.  

There were many positive voices when it came to the current state of EV adoption, the charging infrastructure, and the general direction of the market, in the UK. It was not all good news, but I also felt a positive sense of urgency which I go into below.

So, let’s get into it.

Takeaway #1 - Accelerating Infrastructure Deployment

The general dialogue of the summit praised the progression of charging infrastructure in the country thus far, aligning with demand,  a which plays a central role in encouraging  EV adoption.

It was positive to hear from Henry Pearson, Director of Finance and Capital Markets at Octopus Electric Vehicles, who sees consumer EV adoption now at a tipping point and is on cusp of jumping the chasm to mainstream adoption.

This mainstream adoption drives a need to go faster and there was a definite sense of urgency running through the day’s discussions, with Maurice Hochschild, Executive Chairman of Osprey Charging Network, emphasizing that while things have improved, we need to get better faster. For me, this was particularly poignant within the context of charging cold spots, with the speaker sessions indicating that 25% of the UK’s A-roads still show a significant lack of charging facilities.

Takeaway #2 - Access and Utilization

Putting the right infrastructure in the right places remains key - this was a theme which ran through the day, with Ben Fousler, a Partner at KPMG, emphasizing the level of opportunity currently available to CPOs, and the subsequent industry growth to come.

One area where this was particularly highlighted was high-usage vehicles, like taxis, couriers, and larger delivery vehicles,  that do not currently have ready access to EV charging facilities, either on-street or at home. This shows a focus on destination charging at the expense of  “on-journey” and “at-home” charging infrastructure.

In addition, concerns were raised about the financial burden being put on the EV drivers without home charging. According to Dr. Chris Pateman Jones from Connected Kerb, while the industry focus should remain on convenience, affordability and scale, there is a possibility that without home charging, drivers risk being overly financially penalised, and it being seen as a tax if local authorities pursue revenue-sharing models that increase local AC charging costs.

Takeaway #3 - The Emerging Opportunity of Fleet

One negative for me was the discussions around fleet, particularly HGV, where we have less than 0.1% penetration and fewer than 500 such electric vehicles on the UK's roads. While this presents a huge business opportunity it is a stark reminder that the leap to mainstream for electric fleet vehicles requires a seismic shift in our approach for something substantive to change.

That being said,  it was discussed, and I agree, that the bigger opportunity is around LCVs, as many of these vehicles are driving in more densely populated areas where there has been a push for improved air quality. There is a glaring need for LCVs to have access to public charging intraday or overnight.

For example, 80% of British Gas fleet drivers who have 'return to home'  vehicles will not be able to charge at home - this remains a massive concern, which is similar to what I discussed earlier with high-usage vehicles, but, in my opinion, can be addressed much more easily than in the HGV space.

Summing Up - Looking to the Future

I left central London with a spring in my step, as although intense, it was an excellent reminder of the positive achievements in the industry so far, and of the energy in the market.

After all, the fundamentals of EV infrastructure remain positive. As Darryl Murphy, Head of Infrastructure Debt, Aviva Investors, emphasized, investment is being made, and the outcome remains positive albeit with a slightly longer time horizon than initially anticipated. As a new and developing market, bumps in the road are to be expected and, in my opinion, the challenges we are experiencing are there to be solved.

I leave you with this sentiment from Kate Tyrell from ChargeSafe:

"Remain focused and hold on for the next wave of growth!"