EDF has bought one of Britain"s biggest electric vehicle charging companies in the latest foray by an energy company into renewables. The French state-controlled utility is understood to have paid more than £100m for Pod Point, a British charging firm, in its first such investment. There are about 30,000 charging connectors across almost 11,000 locations in the UK, but critics say they are too concentrated in big cities. The Government recently said that petrol and diesel cars could be banned as soon as 2032 - a development that prompt surging demand for charging points, experts predict. EDF said it planned to become the leading energy company for electric mobility in France, the UK, Italy and Belgium. The deal for Pod Point was made alongside Legal & General Capital, the investment arm of the financial services company, which took a 23pc stake in the new joint venture. Simone Rossi, EDF"s UK chief, said: “Electric vehicles will be crucial in reducing the UK’s carbon emissions and fighting climate change.” However, he noted that the additional electricity demand from electric vehicles will require “urgent investment in low carbon generation from renewables and nuclear”. The acquisition follows EDF’s purchase of Pivot Power last year, which specialises in grid-scale batteries and provides high voltage power infrastructure required for electrical vehicle charging points. Last year, the Government announced a £400m charging infrastructure investment fund, half of which was provided by private backers. Charging infrastructure is one of the key barriers to wider uptake of electric cars. According to a study by petrol refining group Fuels Europe, if all new vehicles were battery powered from 2040, between €630bn and €830bn would need to be invested in the European electricity generation, transmission and recharging network by 2050. In June 2018 BP bought Chargemaster, the UK’s largest electric vehicle charging company, which had 6,500 charging points at the time.