Last week, the Rt Hon Alok Sharma MP, Member of Parliament for Reading West and President of COP26, met ChargePoint CEO and President Pasquale Romano and visited ChargePoint’s UK Research & Development facility.

ChargePoint continues to create job opportunities and has more than doubled its talent over the past year in the UK and across Europe. ChargePoint has state-of-the-art research and development facilities in Reading, England for testing and evaluation of ChargePoint’s EV charging products; in addition, it has a growing sales force and network of resellers and installers, offering a boost to employment in the local area.

Alok had the opportunity to tour ChargePoint’s research and development facility, where he met with the engineers and discussed ChargePoint’s investment and future plans in Reading West, the UK and Europe, as well as its contribution to global transport decarbonisation.

During his recent role as President of COP26, Alok helped usher in key changes, such as the disclosure and transparency for the private sector, and the $130 trillion pledge towards net-zero.

Mr Romano took the opportunity to note ChargePoint’s support for the UK Government’s continued policies on EV infrastructure, particularly the emphasis on contactless payment at charging stations, mandating roaming, and introducing an ambitious California-style Zero Emission Vehicle mandate. All these policies will help ensure that electric vehicle (EV) drivers can make the switch to EV with ease and confidence, supported by charging technology leaders like ChargePoint.

Pasquale Romano, ChargePoint CEO and President said,

“Hosting COP26 President Alok Sharma at ChargePoint today demonstrates our commitment to working closely with leaders in the fight against climate change to accelerate the electrification of all transport. At ChargePoint, we know that to support EV growth, charging services should always offer the driver a seamless and reliable experience with charging infrastructure installed ahead of demand. To make meaningful and genuine progress on EV charging, private sector leadership and innovation is key - along with continued government support. To this end, we’re excited to invest in the UK and beyond in EV charging solutions which optimise the driver experience and encourage the speedy electrification of all transportation.”

The Rt Hon Alok Sharma MP said: 

“I was delighted to visit ChargePoint and learn about the company’s growth plans for the future. The Government set out its strategy for electric vehicle infrastructure in March this year and, as the strategy notes, by 2030 we expect there to be around 300,000 public chargepoints as a minimum in the UK, but there could potentially be more than double that number. The overall aim of the strategy is to remove charging infrastructure as both a perceived, and a real, barrier to the adoption of electric vehicles.”

Photos: Alok Sharma MP with ChargePoint CEO Pasquale Romano