Transport for Wales (TfW) is backing EV Rally Cymru for a second year, putting electric vehicles, charging infrastructure and clean-energy innovation to the test across the country. Tony Clayton, EV Infrastructure Programme Manager at TfW, explains why real-world experience is vital to building confidence in EVs and accelerating Wales’s transition to cleaner transport
We are delighted that Transport for Wales is supporting EV Rally Cymru once again - what motivated you to return?
We’re incredibly excited to be supporting the 2026 version of EV Rally Cymru.
Last year, the Rally gave the TfW team first-hand experience of driving electric vehicles (EVs) across the varying landscapes of Wales. We purposefully chose to partner with TrydaNi to test the capabilities of second-hand zero-emission car club vehicles on Welsh roads. We believe the TfW team demonstrated that EVs are a viable option for residents, businesses and visitors to Wales.
As the EV transition moves beyond the early adopters, it is more important than ever to support the next generation of EV drivers and showcase how electric transport is already becoming part of everyday life in Wales.
At TfW, we're not just talking about the transition to cleaner transport, we're actively delivering it. We recently introduced the all-electric T22 TrawsCymru service between Blaenau Ffestiniog and Caernarfon, demonstrating how zero-emission technology can provide reliable, high-quality public transport while reducing carbon emissions. The service is a great example of how innovation is helping to shape the future of transport in Wales and reflects our wider ambition to make sustainable travel the easiest choice for more people.
This year, we're also hosting our own checkpoint at Porthmadog railway station. With on-site car, van and bus charging alongside rail services, the checkpoint brings that ambition to life. It showcases our vision for the T Network, where buses, trains, active travel and shared mobility services work together as part of a joined-up, integrated transport system. By bringing together clean vehicles, charging infrastructure and public transport in one location, we can provide a real-world example of how collaboration can help create a more sustainable and connected transport network for Wales.
Please tell us about your team - who will be driving and in what vehicles?
This year we’re thrilled to be partnering with Grosvenor Leasing, who will be providing our vehicles. Grosvenor is the UK’s largest privately-owned contract hire, fleet management and EV salary sacrifice specialist, funding and managing over 20,000 vehicles. Grosvenor will also have their own team, and we look forward to meeting Giles Bolton and Paul Wickenden on the road.
As the EV transition accelerates, businesses will require flexible approaches to manage their fleet needs, including the confidence that public charging infrastructure is available where and when they need it. EV Rally Cymru provides the perfect platform to show how organisations such as TfW, local authorities and private businesses are working together to provide real-world solutions to today’s needs.
For 2026, we’re also widening our team’s participation, so that all of TfW’s EV Infrastructure Hub have a chance to drive an EV. My own participation in last year’s Rally gave me the chance to drive an EV. It must have been a positive experience as I have since purchased our family’s first EV – despite not currently having access to a home charging solution - and recently drove to France to experience charging on the continent!
As much of Wales is rural, are there any aspects of the EV rally that you expect to be challenging? If so, how are you planning to address them?
Wales is home to more than 3,000,000 residents. Almost half of these live within the 12 Local Authority areas that comprise South East Wales, which only represents 14% of Wales’s total area. There are further concentrations of population distributed along the North Wales coast, but 80% of the landmass of Wales is rural and a third of the population live there.
It is fair to say that if the Rally were taking place five years ago, the range of EVs and scarcity of charging infrastructure in Wales would have been a challenge for all participating teams!
Having experienced the Rally in 2025, I have the utmost confidence that the vehicles are more than capable of handling both the distances and terrain involved. While infrastructure in rural areas may not yet be as prevalent as urban areas, there remains the myth that you cannot drive an EV in Wales. Projects such as TfW’s rollout of rapid charging structure – and the tireless work of local authorities, charge point operators and wider industry - already ensure motorists are never further than 20 miles from a rapid charger anywhere on Wales’s strategic road network.
Some of the checkpoints will showcase innovation and clean energy - why is this important?
The EV transition is about far more than replacing one type of vehicle with another. It is transforming how we generate, store and use energy, creating new opportunities for collaboration between government, the public sector and private businesses. Just as TfW's integrated T Network relies on different partners working together to deliver seamless journeys, the shift to electric vehicles depends on organisations coming together to build the infrastructure, technology and energy systems that will power a cleaner future.
That's why the innovation and clean energy projects featured along the Rally route are so important. From solar-powered charging hubs and battery storage solutions to smart energy networks, they're showing how clean transport and clean energy go hand in hand. Behind every charging point is a wider energy story, one that is helping to reshape communities, reduce carbon emissions and support economic growth.
EV Rally Cymru provides a fantastic opportunity to see that innovation first-hand. Wales is home to some outstanding clean energy projects and pioneering organisations that are leading the way in this space. By visiting these sites, we can showcase the ingenuity, ambition and collaboration that are helping to drive the transition forward, while highlighting the vital connection between a cleaner transport network and a greener energy future.
What is EV-demand like in Wales and why are events like the EV Rally important for driving up electric-vehicle adoption?
Department for Transport quarterly data shows that battery electric vehicles (BEVs) hold an increasingly significant share of vehicles in Wales and the UK as a whole. In quarter one 2026, almost 2,000,000 BEVs were distributed across the UK compared to approximately 1,000,000 at the same time in 2024. Of those, 50,000 were located in Wales. In terms of new car and van registrations in Wales, BEVs accounted for approximately 20 percent of all new registrations in Q1 2026, significantly above the UK average and up from around three percent in 2020.
As with new registrations, second hand BEVs are experiencing record levels of transactions. In Q2 2026, approximately 110,000 transactions were processed, representing a 67 percent year-on-year change, with consumers recognising the excellent deals available on a widening range of electric vehicles. My recently purchased family-sized EV was bought second-hand for a comparable price to its petrol or diesel equivalents. But mass adoption is fickle, stymied by myths, misinformation – intended or otherwise – and complexities that not one single organisation can resolve in isolation. Events such as EV Rally Cymru provide the ideal platform to address these issues, while showcasing Wales, the capabilities of the vast range of EVs on the market, and the wider clean energy system that does and will support them.
What does driving an EV really feel like in Wales? Pay attention to EV Rally Cymru and let’s find out!