Rural Charge Podcast

Alex Reid

Rural Charge — the podcast exploring how the electrification of our energy systems is transforming transport across the UK’s rural and island communities.

Episodes

  1. #6 - Decarbonisation Budgets & AI Plans - Good News for Rural eMobility?

    06/12/2025

    #6 - Decarbonisation Budgets & AI Plans - Good News for Rural eMobility?

    This week Alex shares his thoughts on 2 important annoucements this week from the UK Government. Firstly, the publication of the Comprehensive Spending Review that includes £2,6 billion for transport decarbonisation programmes with over half earmarked for electric vehicles and electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Where will this money be spent? Will rural communities see an uplift in the quality and quantity of their transport services, and receive support to purchase new and 2nd hand electric vehicles? Secondly, The Transport Artificial Intelligence Action Plan contains 23 priorities to accelerate the development and deployment of artificial intelligence technologies across road, rail., air and maritime transport. What might this mean for rural communities who have suffered deep cuts in public transport services, continue to wait on reliable high speed broadband. and lag behind in accessing public EV charging? Links to publications discussed in this episode: 1. Spending Review 2025 document - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/spending-review-2025-document 2. Transport Artificial Intelligence Action Plan - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6847cbbb57f3515d9611f13f/transport-ai-action-plan.pdf Connect with Alex on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexcreid/ Follow Alex & Rural Charge on Substack: https://ruralemobility.substack.com/ Work with Alex: ecotechevolution.com

    23 min
  2. #5: Driver Shortages: How to Keep the Vehicles Moving as Rural Rapidly Ages

    06/04/2025

    #5: Driver Shortages: How to Keep the Vehicles Moving as Rural Rapidly Ages

    This week Alex discusses the longer term impact and implications for transport service providers as rural and island communities rapidly age. In some rural areas, it's projected that by 2037, over 65% of the population will be of retirement age and as little as 25% of working age. The consequences are profound. Where will of the people needed to drrive the buses, taxis. emergency service vehicles, trucks and tractors come from? During the episode, Alex discusses: 1. The implications of rapid rural aging on local transport systems 2.The jobs in rural communiites that are most at risk of experiencing driver shortages. 3. The scope for technology to mitigate the risk of driver shortages 4. The policy intervetions needed to address the risks. 5. The steps that Local Authorities & Transport Operators can take to encourage people of all ages to work in a full time or part-time capacity as vehicle drivers or vehicle technicians. Connect with Alex on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexcreid/ Follow Alex & Rural Charge on Substack: https://ruralemobility.substack.com/ Work with Alex: ecotechevolution.com

    20 min
  3. #4: The Electric Ferry Forecast - The path towards decarbonising the UK's Ferry Fleet

    05/29/2025

    #4: The Electric Ferry Forecast - The path towards decarbonising the UK's Ferry Fleet

    It's all about ferries in this week's episode. What does the decarbonisation forecast look like for UK ferry operators? As a native of the Isle of Arran on the West Coast of Scotland, it's a subject that's close to Alex's heart. Since childhood, he's spent many an hour on them travelling across the Firth of Clyde. During the episode, Alex discusses: 1. The size of the UK's ferry network, how it's structured and how it operates 2. The social as well as economic value of ferries to island and coastal communities. 3. How UK Governments are supporting the path to decarbonisation through their Maritime 2050 strategy and associated innovation programmes 4. The countries that are leading the charge to decarbonise their ferry fleet 5. The businesses that are at the forefront of designing, developing and constructing electric ferries 6. The policy, regulatory and technology barriers that the UK needs to address to success in achieving 2050 decarbonisation targets. Connect with Alex on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexcreid/ Follow Alex & Rural Charge on Substack: https://ruralemobility.substack.com/ Work with Alex: ecotechevolution.com

    31 min
  4. #3: Decarbonising UK Rural Bus Routes - Charging Ahead or Slamming the Brakes?

    05/22/2025

    #3: Decarbonising UK Rural Bus Routes - Charging Ahead or Slamming the Brakes?

    In this week's episode, Alex shines a light on the journey toward electrifying rural buses—an issue at the heart of the eMobility agenda. Buses are essential to reducing car dependency, cutting emissions, and improving road congestion. Yet operating rural bus services without subsidy is notoriously difficult. Can rural operators—big or small—introduce e-buses? If so, how and when? During the show Alex discusses 1. How the provision and use of buses across all parts of the UK has changed over the years 2. Government policies and funding schemes across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that are supporting Local Authorities and Commercial Bus Operators to make the shift to battery electric or hydrogen fuel cell buses. 3. The somewhat heated discussions around the role of Hydrogen Fuel Cell buses in fleet decarbonisation roadmaps 4. The main challenges associated with introducing electric buses onto rural routes 5. The short and longer term solutions and policy interventions needed to prevent a two-tier transport system where cities have shiny electric buses, and villages left with clattering old diesels or no buses at all. References 1. Confederation of Passenger Transport: Delivering Zero Emission Bus Services to Rural Areas - https://www.cpt-uk.org/media/x0nnhkbn/rural-zero-emission-bus-taskforce-report-final.pdf 2. The Potential for Hydrogen Fuel Cell Buses in Europe: Results from the bulk analysis of passenger schedules - https://www.fuelcellbuses.eu/sites/default/files/documents/D3.36_Potential%20for%20hydrogen%20buses%20in%20europe.pdf 3. Department for Transport Annual bus statistics: year ending March 2024 - https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-bus-statistics-year-ending-march-2024/annual-bus-statistics-year-ending-march-2024#bus-fleet Connect with Alex on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexcreid/ Follow Alex & Rural Charge on Substack: https://ruralemobility.substack.com/ Work with Alex: ecotechevolution.com

    25 min
  5. #2 - Grid Connections Backlogs, Rural Fleet Depot Charging, and the Decarobonisation of Rural Bus Routes

    05/12/2025

    #2 - Grid Connections Backlogs, Rural Fleet Depot Charging, and the Decarobonisation of Rural Bus Routes

    On this week's episode of the Rural Charge Podcast, Alex flies solo and breaks down two important rural eMobility stories. First, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) warned last week about the impact of the rapidly growing backlog of grid connection requests on fleet operators who are transitioning to electic vans. What are the implications for rural areas where many fleet vehicles operate? Second, a brief look at the pathway to decarbonising rural bus routes in the UK. What can we learn from recent EU & UK wide research on this subject? Links to articles and research mentioned in this episode. 1. Van operators waiting up to 15 years for EV charging connections - https://www.motoringresearch.com/car-news/van-operators-waiting-ev-charging-connections/ 2. The potential for hydrogen buses in Europe: Results from the bulk analysis of passenger schedules - https://www.fuelcellbuses.eu/sites/default/files/documents/D3.36_Potential%20for%20hydrogen%20buses%20in%20europe.pdf Big Event - UK Rural eMobility Summit 2025 - To learn more and register go to ecotechevolution.com/uk-rural-emobility-summit-2025 Got a question or comment? Drop Alex a line at alex@ecotechevolution.com Connect with Alex on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/alexcreid Learn more about Alex's work on all aspects of eMobility at EcoTech Evolution ecotechevolution.com

    11 min
  6. #1: Arun Gopinath on Rural EV Charging Strategies

    05/06/2025

    #1: Arun Gopinath on Rural EV Charging Strategies

    In this week's episode, Alex is joined by Arun Gopinath, CEO & Co-founder at Vahanomy Ltd, a Scottish eMobility scale up developing innovative data-driven products to optimise investment, reduce risk and help accelerate the rollout of the EV charging infrastructure. Alex and Arun discuss the current state of the EV charging sector and the challenges associated with locating sites for public charging infrastructure in rural areas that meet the needs of drivers, investors, landowners and operators. They also debate the best metrics that should be used to measure the performance of the sector, and the merits of meeting future charging demand in rural areas through the supply of charge points by small and medium size businesses in the hospitality and tourism sectors, and greater use of shared transport. Opportunities for rural communities to develop microgrids that generate and supply renewable power to local homes, businesses and charge points are explored as a means to reduce the dependency on applying for expensive grid connections. Find out more about Arun & Vahanomy at https://www.vahanomy.com/ Connect with Arun @ https://www.linkedin.com/in/arungopinath/ Follow Alex on Substack @ https://ruralemobility.substack.com/ where he writes about all aspects of rural eMobility Want to work with Alex on eMobility project? - Visit https://www.ecotechevolution.com/ to find out more about his products and services Want to attend UK Rural eMobility Summit 2025 on Sept 17-18th? Its Online & FREE to attend. Visit https://www.ecotechevolution.com/uk-rural-emobility-summit-2025 to find out more and register.

    38 min
  7. Introducing The Rural Charge Podcast

    Season 1 Trailer

    Introducing The Rural Charge Podcast

    Welcome to Rural Charge —The podcast exploring how the electrification of our energy systems is transforming transport across the UK’s rural and island communities. I'm Alex Reid, your host, and founder of EcoTech Evolution, an eMobility communications consultancy helping businesses to crack Rural eMobility challenges in the UK and overseas. In this new weekly show, I’ll be bringing you insights, innovations, and practical ideas from the frontlines of the rural mobility revolution. Some weeks I’ll go solo with short, focused episodes to unpack a topic or challenge. Other weeks, I’ll be joined by guests working across transport, tech, rural business, or public policy who’ll share wat they’re seeing, building, or fighting for. So if you're ready to power up your understanding of rural e-mobility, make sure you hit subscribe on your favourite podcast platform. And if you like what you hear, please share it with someone else who is equally passionate about moving people, parcels and freight more sustainably around the countryside.

    2 min

Trailer

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Rural Charge — the podcast exploring how the electrification of our energy systems is transforming transport across the UK’s rural and island communities.

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