From showcasing Wales’s growing EV infrastructure to highlighting clean energy innovation, Tony Clayton, Decarbonisation Programme Manager at Transport for Wales, shares how EV Rally Cymru offers a unique opportunity to demonstrate collaboration, sustainability and the future of electric transport across Wales.
We are delighted that Transport for Wales is supporting EV Rally Cymru - please tell us why you decided to get involved?
Put simply, we are incredibly excited to be joining the EV Rally Cymru this year as headline sponsor. Building on the success of the inaugural rally in 2024, collaboration is at the heart of the transition away from fossil fuel vehicles. This year’s rally gives Transport for Wales (TfW) and our partners a platform to show how Welsh Government, TfW, and public and private sector organisations are working together to establish a robust and reliable network of EV charge points in Wales. It’s also an opportunity to demonstrate the role of electric vehicles in our vision for a cleaner, more sustainable transport system for the country.
At TfW, we’re focused on bringing together our transport systems and making journeys seamless for our customers. We call this the ‘T Network’ and it’s already beginning to deliver on our mission of one network, one timetable, one ticket, and one team. Within this, the adoption of EVs is a key enabler to drive transport and energy decarbonisation, ensuring all of our customers can use low carbon or zero carbon modes and access the wider transport network.
We’re excited about EV Rally Cymru to not only showcase the beauty of Wales but also to raise awareness of TfW’s role in delivering and working with others to enable the EV transition.
Please tell us about your team - who will be driving and in what vehicles?
We are thrilled to be partnering with TrydaNi on this year’s Rally. TrydaNi have car clubs across Wales where members can book an electric vehicle whenever they need. They are a not-for-profit organisation with a mission to deliver zero emission car-sharing – in a way that is affordable, convenient and benefits local communities.
You can join TrydaNi by visiting trydani.org, then book a car using the TrydaNi app. There are currently clubs at 10 locations, with many more planned as TrydaNi expands.
TfW are grateful to TrydaNi for offering two of their vehicles, a Renault Megane and a Renault Zoe, for use by the team at this year’s Rally.
With a combination of EVs already being used on Wales’s roads and a driver team made up of EV novices and experienced EV drivers from TfW, Welsh Government and TrydaNi, we hope to provide a real-world view of what it’s like to drive EVs in Wales and what we can all learn from the experience.
What is the charging infrastructure like in Wales currently, and how is Transport for Wales helping to grow the network and ease any challenges?
Wales is currently the region with the 4th highest number of publicly available EV chargepoints with 112 charging devices per 100,000 of the population in Wales, which is broadly comparable with the UK total (121). In terms of publicly available chargers with power of 50kW and above, Welsh progress aligns with devices installed UK-wide per 100,000 population (24.0 compared to 24.7, respectively). The total number of devices in Wales has seen an 8% increase since July 2024.
Wales is doing well but looking more closely, the distribution of charging devices has typically focussed on urban areas and destination charging opportunities. There are understandably regional variances, and much more work to do to support at home or near home charging, especially on-street deployment. Twenty-two Local Authorities in Wales can access the Welsh Government public EV charging infrastructure capital grant scheme to support infrastructure deployment, including on-street projects and cross pavement channel solutions.
As the delivery arm of Welsh Government, our EV charging programme supports national policy development and the creation of standards. We have already delivered rapid charging points on the strategic road network across Wales to provide a robust charging provision across main transport routes and are deploying fast chargers in station car parks across our railway network. We use those experiences as well as the insights we gain from partners across the UK to provide tools and services that assist Local Authorities to deliver their own projects at pace and with quality. Outside of Wales, we are involved in UK-wide initiatives to facilitate the transition to electric vehicles, such as the development of an update to the PAS1899:2022 EV accessible charging specification.
The Rally will be passing through some rural terrain; do you expect there to be any challenges, and how will these be tackled?
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 1/3 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!
With the route passing through some of Wales’s most rural areas, it is accepted that some areas have limited public charging availability, but with greater vehicle choice and real-world range of many EVs exceeding 250 miles, Rally teams will be able to complete most of the event with ease.
The opportunity to use vehicles that are a few years old also gives us the valuable opportunity to simulate the experience of first-time second-hand EV buyers, and those that might be visiting Wales in an EV.
Some of the checkpoints will showcase innovation and clean energy - how important is this in the EV narrative?
Similar to TfW’s multi-modal and integrated ‘T Network’, the EV transition requires collaboration. In the case of EVs, cross sector collaboration between government, the public sector and private business to ensure vehicles, infrastructure and systems are plentiful, affordable and accessible to all. This results in many examples of innovation within the respective industries. Our job at TfW is to keep up with the latest developments in innovation and share those insights with stakeholders.
EVs play a significant role in supporting the wider energy transition, with electricity grid connections at the heart of all EV infrastructure deployments. As we have seen, charging facilities across the UK are directly harnessing the use of clean energy to power EVs, including solar farms, canopies and battery storage solutions.
Having the opportunity to see Welsh clean energy projects and innovation up close on the Rally reinforces the importance and intrinsic link between a clean transport and clean energy future. Wales is blessed with many clean energy projects, ranging from community initiatives to large-scale commercial schemes, and we are looking forward to getting out on the road to shine a light on these fantastic initiatives.
What is EV-demand like in Wales and why are events like the EV Rally important for driving up electric-vehicle adoption?
Approximately 26% new car registrations across the UK in August 2025 were battery electric, up from 22% in 2024. Figures from 2024 show that there are more than 60,000 battery electric vehicles on Wales’s roads.
With the potential to charge an EV wherever it is parked in addition to topping up during journeys, fantastic opportunities are created to provide infrastructure of the right type and quality in the right locations, but it also brings with it complexities, such as for properties without off-street parking.
Away from charging infrastructure, initiatives such as the zero emission vehicle mandate encourage business and consumer confidence. We are now seeing some great deals on EVs on the second-hand market. But mass adoption is fickle, still stymied by myths, affected by global events and, where drivers are solely reliant on charging on the public network costs of charging can be challenging. Our aim at TfW is to deliver and provide the necessary support to ensure charging facilities are not the blocker to adoption.
EV Rally Cymru creates the ideal platform to address these issues, while showcasing Wales, the capabilities of EVs on the market, and the wider clean energy system that does and will support them. EVs are not a future technology but are here right now and (unlike with combustion engine cars) ongoing vehicle software updates will continue to enhance the driving experience and vehicle capabilities. mean that the car you originally buy gets even better over time. The Rally will be informative, collaborative and most definitely fun. We cannot wait to get started!