According to the budget watchdog, plans to install 300,000 EV charging stations nationwide by 2030 run the risk of causing a "regional divide" between the rest of the country and well-connected locations in London and the southeast.

The government was on track to install 300,000 charging stations by 2030, according to the National Audit Office, but vast regions of the nation were being left behind.

It cautioned that compared to other UK regions, London has the most installed charging stations per person. According to the NAO, only 15% of charge points in England are located in rural locations, whereas 44% of all public charging stations have been placed in London and the southeast.

Gareth Davies, the head of the NAO, said the government’s 2030 goal “appears achievable”, but there was “more to do to ensure adequate coverage in all parts of the country”.

The watchdog said that a government programme set up to support local authorities in rolling out charge points with £450m of funding was expected to install 100,000 chargers, but had faced delays because local authority plans were taking longer to develop than the government expected.

In addition, the rollout has been hindered because it is “slower and more expensive than it needs to be” for charge point operators to get planning permissions and electricity grid connections, the NAO said.

The NAO said the UK should do more to prioritise the rollout of public charge points, particularly in sufficient numbers at key locations along long-distance journeys to give drivers confidence to switch to EVs.

“This may not happen at the pace and in the locations needed without government intervention,” the NAO warned.

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, the chair of the House of Commons’ public accounts committee, said issues with planning permissions and electricity grid connections were “acting as roadblocks to further progress”.

“If the government is serious about encouraging the take-up of electric vehicles, it must ensure the public can reach reliable, convenient and accessible charging points,” he said.