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15 September 2022
The Green Steve’s series is a collaboration between Sharpe Pritchard Solicitors and energy & climate change consultant Stephen Cirell to assist local authorities to understand the energy market, identify opportunities and provide practical guidance as to how to engage more in the green agenda. In this third paper in the series, we look at the topical area of EV infrastructure. This is likely to be one of the key areas of the green agenda for local authorities moving forwards.
However, the subject of EV infrastructure is cloaked with much confusion.Whilst it is abundantly clear that more EV charging infrastructure is necessary, exactly what the role of local government will be in the provision of this is much less clear. In this paper, an effort is made to clarify this key area.
As ever, the starting point is the Climate Change Act 2008 (as amended) and the Government’s legally binding targets to reach a position of net zero carbon by 2050. Transport is one of the biggest segments of the UK’s carbon footprint and is the only area that has still been rising in recent years.
Official figures for 2019 show that 27% of the UK’s carbon footprint came from transport activities. The biggest contributors to this total were cars and taxis, which made up 61% of the emissions from road transport.
The Government has been slow to set out its policy framework for transport but the declaration that the Government would legislate for a legal target banning the sale of internal combustion engine cars from 2030 was a massive step forwards. The Transport Decarbonisation Plan was published on 29 July 2021 and provided a comprehensive statement for the decarbonisation of this sector over a 216 page document which included a number of other strategic priorities.
This was followed by the publication of the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy on 25 March 2022. The names of the two documents would suggest that they contain all the detail that a local authority needs to know. Sadly, this is not the case and the latter Strategy really only covered further funding of EV charging points.
The Government has estimated that 300,000 chargers will be required if the UK is to meet its Climate Change Act targets. Others have suggested even more: the EV Energy Taskforce suggested in its paper ‘Charging the Future: Drivers for Success 2035’ a minimum target of 490,000 charge points being required.
The estimates are based on the projected numbers of electric vehicles on the roads over the next decade. Sales of EVs are bucking trends: whilst conventional vehicle sales are well down, EV sales are breaking records. This is likely to continue as the current energy crisis sends fossil fuel prices soaring. Many motorists have clearly stated, however, that they will only switch to electric motoring when the charging network in the UK is adequate. But the normal convention is demand, followed by supply, followed by infrastructure and the balancing act required to provide the right number of charging points at the right time will be a real challenge.
For the purposes of this paper, however, there is a key question: what is the role of local authorities in providing EV charge points?
The position around the country is mixed. There are around 30,000 charge points currently fitted and operational, which is approximately 10% of the Government’s target. Geographical coverage varies wildly: London and the South East is the best served area, whilst some rural locations are far less served.
There are different ways of looking at coverage. Geographically must be the norm (ie where they are); but useful indicators can be gained from other metrics such as the nature of their location (motorways and major roads better served), or the activity in the area of charging points (for example retail parks/shopping centres).
Needless to say, on the latter metric there are areas that are not only overlooked, but those that are likely to remain overlooked, principally social housing estates and remote areas.
There is much talk of local authorities not doing enough to provide EV charging, such as research from DevicePilot which revealed that nearly two thirds of UK Councils had received complaints about the availability, reliability or number of charging points over the last 12 months. In addition nearly half of the Councils contacted reported that they don’t know how many charge points they will install this year or are not planning to install any at all.
It is curious that many seem to think that it is local government’s responsibility to provide charge points, when they do not provide garages to fuel petrol or diesel cars? This is made worse by the fact that the Government has not been clear what it sees as their role either. In legal terms, they have no responsibility for this area and any climate emergency or similar targets are purely voluntary.
It is also the case that EVs are not the only answer here. Most local authority climate action plans have wider proposals for transport, many starting with the key area of seeking to promote a modal change in transport, by encouraging more walking, cycling and public transport.
Most authorities that have developed action plans have started closer to home. Even if a climate plan involves working outside of the authority on an ‘area wide’ carbon footprint, the obvious place to start is with the areas an authority controls. This means switching the authority’s fleet to EVs, which is immediately possible for cars and vans, but which will take a while longer in terms of the heavy vehicles, such as trucks and refuse collection freighters.
In order to have any chance of deciding what provision should be made for public EV chargepoints, the Council has to know the details of what is happening in its area.
Obvious questions to ask would be:
It is clear from the comments above that we consider it ridiculous to suggest that it is local government’s responsibility to provide all EV charge points in its area. But this does not answer the question of what the role of the local authority actually is?
A report by the Transport and Environment Group (a not for profit EU based organisation) made a sensible suggestion in its report ‘Charging Forward: Creating a World Class UK Charging Network’. It describes the role of government to be that of ‘enabler of an extensive, high quality network’. This could be interpreted as a responsibility to ensure that a good EV charging network is developed in its area. This is, of course, very different from providing that network itself.
In order to pursue this line, the local authority would still need to capture the data listed above and engage with relevant groups. These would include the private sector EV charge point providers (who might have future plans in this area), employers, other public bodies and so on. A key point of liaison will also be the Distribution Network Operator, as grid connectivity is a major reason why more EV charging infrastructure cannot be completed quickly in many areas.
By this process, the local authority will work out the need in its area, the numbers of EVs (resident and visitor), the current provision of public charging points by private enterprise or others and the number of consumers who have off street parking at home (where 80% of all EV charging is undertaken). In other words, it can identify the ‘gaps’ i.e. those areas which are not being catered for and can look to how those might be filled. There is, after all, no point in replicating what is already being provided by others.
Of course it will need to incorporate any EV infrastructure policy into its normal policy framework. This might include a target for numbers of EV charging spaces in Council car parks. The Council does not want to get any of this wrong or it will end up with empty spaces in car parks (a sure source of criticism), chargers fitted of the wrong capacity, equipment that goes out of date or is in the wrong places and so on.
Much of this will depend on the level of ambition in each authority. Some will wish to be market leaders and press ahead strongly; others will be satisfied with ensuring that a minimum provision is made. This may also come down to funding. In the past, EU funding was available to provide EV charging infrastructure and many authorities benefitted from this, such as under the DELETTI and ORCS programmes, mentioned below. With the of the publication of the EV Infrastructure Strategy, the Government announced a new £450m fund (the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund) to boost EV charging projects, which includes specific funding for local authorities.
So the local authority has compiled the necessary data and has drawn a clear picture of the need within its area. As a hypothetical example, this has shown that the motorway network is well catered for.
Gridserve acquired the Electric Highway from Ecotricity and has replaced all chargers and embarked on a process of expanding the service. There is a major shopping centre in the area and again a private provider has started fitting EV chargers here too (as the site is busy and central). Some employers are providing charge points for their staff in private car parks within the business district.
This still leaves other areas without the necessary provision. The authority identifies three areas: on street parking, Council car parks and the social housing estates. Here the Council has to make a decision on whether to provide some charging infrastructure itself. One of the factors that will weigh in this decision is whether this position is likely to change – perhaps liaison with the major EV charging infrastructure developers will reveal if they have future plans in the Council’s area.
If that is not the case, then the Council has to decide how to proceed. What is the best way to provide gap filling infrastructure in the areas suggested?
One way would be for the Council to provide the service directly. This would be the most challenging route of all and few local authorities have traversed this path. The reasons for this are clear: it would have to undertake all of the work to provide a full charging service. This would entail:
This is a significant amount of work and would take a considerable time to complete. Even if it was achieved, its resulting service is unlikely to match the large providers such as Gridserve, Ionity and Polar who all run national networks.
For these reasons, most authorities have therefore decided to contract with a specialist provider, so that the service can be provided on its behalf. Outsourcing the work will mean a quicker and better service in most instances.
Under these contracts, the infrastructure company provides the capital expenditure for the chargers (which is likely to be a significant sum) but will keep the majority of the income generated by use of the chargers. The local authority remains the land owner but the service is provided under contract, including repair and maintenance of the equipment. It receives a percentage of the income from the use of the chargers.
If a local authority is to enter into a contract of this nature, the key factors will relate to service delivery, accessibility, interoperability, pricing, data protection, grid connection, sharing of turnover, metering, roll-out and time frames and advertising (amongst others).
It is also possible to develop tailored systems to fit specific needs. An example might be a social housing estate, where no private sector provider is ever going to fund charging infrastructure. Here, the Council, might take a small car park or identify relevant land to develop a charging ‘hub’ for tenants.
This might be a small car park with a dozen spaces that are reserved for tenants’ use. In view of the fact that most charging of this nature will be overnight,this could be fitted with slow chargers (3 kW) which would take a number of hours to complete a charge. This is fine if the cars are then parked overnight. Such low powered chargers are inexpensive compared with higher powered equivalents.
There has been much activity in local government on EV charging over the last few years, although most local authorities recognise that this area needs to develop much more quickly now. Each is based on a different approach.
Devon County Council used EU money to provide Council car park based chargers within its area. It included the district councils in this project, called the Devon Low Carbon Energy and Transport Technology Innovator (DELETTI) programme. The grant of over £800,000 from the European Regional Development Fund enabled charging points to be installed in over 68 car parks for public use under the first phase.
The County Council also developed an on street parking solution, again funded by EU money. The On Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS) was fully funded and provided charge points for those without off street parking that enabled EV charging.
Nottingham City Council moved swiftly to an electric fleet of 142 vehicles, including vans, cars, cage tippers, sweepers, mini buses and refuse collection vehicles. This has necessitated action on its own charge point front.
The authority is implementing a plan for 90 smart chargers across 4 of its main sites, based around the needs of the fleet for charging. Due to local grid constraints, this has necessitated installing a new substation at its main depot (at significant cost) to ensure that the requisite power can be supplied.
York City Council has recently been in the press as it has focussed its strategy on its ‘park and ride’ sites. As a traditional Roman city, York suffers from small streets and few parking places. As such it has developed a widely used park and ride system. Under this, large car parks (500+ spaces) are situated on the outskirts of the City and bus services shuttle people between the two.
These park and ride sites are ideal for EV charging, as most people are parked there for some hours. It was recently reported that York City Council had installed the first of four charging stations at Monks Cross park and ride site. A further park and ride station at Poppleton Bar will be completed soon. Interestingly, the Council has chosen rapid chargers for these sites. The Monks Cross site has four 50 kW rapid and four 175 kW ultra rapid charging points, which can be upgraded in due course when required. The strategy is a joint venture with Evo Energy and includes solar canopies to generate some of the electricity needed.
It is up to each local authority to develop a strategy for the provision of EV infrastructure in its area. Whilst there is no legal requirement to do so, most authorities will recognise that the roll out of EV charging infrastructure is an important part of achieving the net zero targets. As such, doing nothing is not an option and is likely to attract considerable and increasing criticism.
However, this does not mean that each council must provide charging infrastructure itself. In some areas the need will be minimal, but higher in others. Overseeing the facilitation of a successful transition to EV infrastructure is a better aim. The level of work will depend on data and the Council’s individual ambition.
Once an evidence base has been constructed decisions can be taken on what needs to be done. It is likely in many Council areas that some form of ‘gap filling’ will result, perhaps with a role in governance over the general EV charginginfrastructure in the area.
Where local authorities are procuring charge point infrastructure, they need to ensure that they carefully consider the terms and conditions of any such contract to ensure that their own position is protected.
