JUST one part of Gwent is keeping up with the national rate of installing electric vehicle (EV) charging points.

Statistics from the Department for Transport show there were 53 public charging points in Monmouthshire at the start of October – up from 38 a year before.

At a rate of 56 per 100,000 people, this is well above the UK average, of 39.

But the rest of Gwent lags behind the national average: Blaenau Gwent has 26 EV charging points per 100,000 people, Caerphilly has 21, Newport has 33 and Torfaen has 30.

The figures come as world leaders meet in Glasgow for the COP26 climate summit, organised by the United Nations. Countries are under pressure to increase action in the next decade to tackle dangerous global warming - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres telling politicians the world's “addiction to fossil fuels is pushing humanity to the brink”.

Boris Johnson and Mark Drakeford are also in attendance, with the first minister saying "we will show that Wales is ready to play its part" in tackling the climate emergency.

The UK is phasing out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030, and EVs are expected to become more commonplace and affordable. But for this to happen, there will need to be a suitable charging infrastructure in place.

The Welsh Government last week unveiled plans to have EV charging points every 20 miles.

The Argus asked readers who own EVs for their thoughts on charging point availability in Gwent. Twitter user Simon said the situation was "OK" in the Pill area of Newport "but I'd like to see them in every supermarket car park and public car park".

"Supermarket car parks are a no-brainer for me, park it up whilst you do a big shop and maybe get a coffee, you've an hour's worth of charge when you get back to the car," he added.

Another Twitter user, Kelly Brown, said there were "definitely not enough chargers" in the Caerphilly county borough region, and "more fast chargers [are] needed ASAP".

But Justin James pointed out that there are charging points which seem to be underused.

"Every time I walk past the EV chargers in the car park at the bottom of the Civic Centre, they're empty," he said on Twitter. "Why are people not using them? Are they too expensive? Slow? Difficult to use? One has been out-of-order since they were installed."

Supermarkets are moving to improve charger availability, and nearly 1,000 new electric vehicle charging points have been added to supermarket car parks in the last 21 months, according to new data from EV charger site Zap-Map and the RAC.

“While the majority of drivers going electric will be fortunate enough to be able to charge easily on their driveways at home, for the remainder it won’t be so easy so having access to free, or affordable, charging facilities at supermarkets is very important, and could even help accelerate EV take-up in the first place," said Sarah Winward-Kotecha, RAC director of EVs.

She added: "We call on all the supermarket chains to let their customers know what to expect when it comes to EV charging provision and recognise the vital role they play in encouraging many more drivers to opt for electric cars next time they change their vehicles.”

  • Additional reporting by PA Media