Sublime takes to the road, driving from London to the Lake District in a BMW iX electric vehicle to explore how the UK’s charging desert landscape is evolving for those who dare to leave the city in their EVs
Currently, many EV drivers worry that the Parks may not have enough public charging points. In fact, areas like the National Parks are sometimes referred to as ‘charging deserts’ – bereft of all, or most public charging options. We want to ease that anxiety and allay fears by adding charging stations near major routes and busy locations that currently have little or no support for electric vehicles.
We love to travel. To discover. Explore new roads. But today, we face a challenge. How can we continue to enjoy these beautiful, but vulnerable landscapes, more sustainably?
To meet this challenge BMW, National Parks UK and Zapmap have joined forces in a powerful 3-year partnership – The Recharge in Nature Project.
The commitment is to enhance the electric car charging network and support vital nature restoration, biodiversity, sustainable tourism and wellbeing initiatives across all 15 National Parks, so we can help these extraordinary landscapes to thrive for generations to come.
During my trip up the M1 towards the Lake District—around 280 miles / 450 km from London—I settled into the quiet hum of the all-electric BMW iX. There’s something surprisingly meditative about long-distance travel in an EV. The smooth acceleration, the silence inside the cabin, and the way it makes you more aware of the road and the landscape—it all feels more intentional somehow.
With a battery range of up to 380 miles/611 Km , the iX made the six-hour journey feel effortless. I made two planned stops: one for an espresso coffee and the second at a high-speed charger to top up. Within 40 minutes, I had 80% battery and was back on the road, with more than enough to reach my destination—a national park, where I was confident a parking space with a charging point would be waiting for me.
As the city noise faded and the green scenery opened up, I found myself not just unwinding, but beginning to form the questions I’d later ask in the following Q&A with the three companies behind the Recharge in Nature Project.
Lisa Sensier, Development Manager National Parks
S: How has the ‘Recharge in Nature’ partnership with BMW contributed to making the UK’s National Parks more accessible to EV drivers?
Lisa Sensier: For the UK’s 15 National Parks, this is a partnership that is genuinely helping us move forward in the key areas of EV infrastructure and sustainable tourism.
Sustainable tourism is one of the most pressing issues for all 15 of the UK’s National Parks. With over 100 million visitors every year. Most National Parks are under-served by EV chargers and are at risk of getting left behind as drivers turn increasingly to EV usage. This is why BMW’s commitment to install or upgrade EV charging posts across all 15 of the National Parks is so welcome. Their support is speeding up the provision of EV chargers in some of our priority locations, helping visitors, local communities and our teams out in the field too.
S: What feedback have you received from visitors and local communities about the newly installed charging stations?
LS: Feedback has been hugely positive. Positioning of the posts has been led by the individual Parks to ensure they are in priority locations which have the most positive impact for visitors and local communities.
S: How do you see EV infrastructure contributing to the long-term sustainability of the National Parks and the protection of these natural spaces?
LS: In recent weeks, the UK National Parks have not only become the first of the world’s national parks to join the ‘Race to Zero’ initiative, committing to drive action to halve carbon emissions within their landscapes by 2030 and become significant net carbon sinks by 2050, they have also set out a new vision for regenerative tourism in an effort to safeguard some of the country’s most popular outdoor destinations, while ensuring they remain accessible to all. EV infrastructure will be a key element of helping us achieve all of this.
S: What are the future plans for expanding sustainability initiatives in the National Parks, and how will EV infrastructure play a part in them?
LS: As the National Parks make efforts to move towards a lower-carbon society, to promote sustainable UK tourism and to restore and enhance our landscapes, working with partners like BMW is a vital way to progress faster and to promote the role that we all need to play in securing a healthier future for our planet.
Melanie Shufflebotham, Co-founder and COO, Zapmap.
S: How has the 45% increase in EV charge points influenced the behavior of UK drivers, especially those taking long trips to the countryside?
Melanie Shufflebotham: The availability of charge points has been on an upward trajectory, with a 37% year-on-year increase from December 2023 to December 2024. Charging hubs with rapid or ultra-rapid chargers have also increased by 43% over the past 12 months. As charge points from the government’s LEVI (local electric vehicle infrastructure) fund start to be deployed, on-street provision across the UK should increase significantly as well.
This has made long-distance travel, including countryside trips, more feasible and stress-free. Drivers can now have greater confidence in the availability of charging options along major routes and rural areas, reducing range anxiety and encouraging exploration of the UK’s beautiful landscapes.
S: Can you provide more insight into how ZapMap’s live charge point availability data can improve the travel experience for EV drivers?
MS: Zapmap shows over 95% of the UK’s public chargers on its app, and more than 75% of them have 24/7 live status data. This provides drivers with peace of mind, allowing them to see where their closest charge points are and if they are available in real-time. This functionality streamlines trip planning and ensures a smoother travel experience as downtime from unavailable or in-use chargers is avoided.
S: What trends are you seeing in EV adoption and navigation habits that are helping facilitate travel to natural and rural areas?
MS: Trends such as increasing battery ranges, growth in ultra-rapid charging hubs, and widespread use of navigation tools like Zapmap are making travel to rural and natural areas more appealing. These advancements address range anxiety and ensure efficient trip planning. The UK’s EV charging infrastructure is growing, with over 70,000 public chargers in place. This makes travel by EV easier than ever.
Emily Barrow, Brand Communications Manager, BMW UK
S: Can you elaborate on BMW’s motivation behind the “Recharge in Nature” partnership with UK National Parks?
Emily Barrow: We know the future of our company is linked to the future of our planet, and we are proud to be leading the charge towards more sustainable tourism across UK National Parks, which are some of the UK’s most beloved landscapes.
EB: By improving the availability of EV charging infrastructure across all 15 of the UK’s National Parks, we are enabling visitors and local communities – most of whom travel by car – to do so with a lower impact on the environment.
Beyond enhancing the recharging network, BMW UK is also working with the National Parks to support biodiversity and nature restoration, as well as community engagement and wellbeing projects, which are developed and managed locally. We strongly believe everyone should have access to nature, not only to boost physical and mental wellbeing but to create a community of committed conservationists.
An example of this in action is at Dartmoor National Park, our funding for a new Youth Engagement Ranger has helped give 1,329 young people, many of whom might not otherwise have opportunities to visit the Park, a chance to experience and explore the great outdoors. Meanwhile in Eryri National Park (Snowdonia), Recharge in Nature has supported a range of natural flood management initiatives to better protect Wales’ largest natural freshwater lake, Llyn Tegid, from pollution.
S: What has been the impact of installing new EV charge points in the National Parks so far, and how do you see this evolving in the future?
EB: As of December 2024, 81 EV charge sockets have been installed across eight National Parks – the Lake District, Peak District, Yorkshire Dales, North York Moors, Dartmoor, Bannau Brycheiniog, New Forest and Exmoor. So far, the installed charging points have saved over 42 tonnes1 of CO2, according to Pod Point data, comparing the electric driving they have enabled to equivalent petrol or diesel miles1. The goal is to install 135 new charge sockets across all 15 of the UK’s National Parks by the end of 2025.
S: How does BMW plan to support the continued expansion of EV charging infrastructure in rural areas beyond the National Parks?
EB: We understand that public charging infrastructure plays an important role in enabling electromobility. IONITY in Europe is one way we are helping. Alongside seven other car manufacturers, we have established and developed a vast network of high-power charging stations along highways in 24 European countries – all powered by renewable energy. We have also developed BMW Charging, allowing our customers in the UK to access over 40,000 charge points across the country using just one RFID card or App, to make charging easy and stress free.
S: With BMW’s commitment to halving CO2 emissions by 2030, how do you envision your role in the EV market transforming?
EB: We have a clear plan for ramping up the production of Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs). By the end of this year, we will have a line-up that includes more than 15 fully electric models across all BMW Group brands on the market, with a new generation of battery electric BMW models launching in 2025. We are also aiming for more than 50% of all BMW Group vehicles delivered worldwide to have a fully electric drive train before 2030.
In addition to BEVs, we are exploring the potential of hydrogen as an alternative fuel. We believe vehicles powered by hydrogen will play a complementary role to BEVs. Not only does it offer fast refuelling, but it is also particularly effective for long-distance and high-demand use. It will also ease the pressures on charging infrastructure and grid stability. In fact, together with Toyota, we are pooling our innovative strength and technological capabilities to bring a new generation of fuel cell powertrain technology to the road. Leveraging this jointly developed technology, we will launch our first ever series-produced hydrogen-powered model in 2028.
Watch Recharge in Nature video on SUBLIMETV
