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14 June 2022
So, you’ve bought a new electric car, now where to charge it?
One of the questions that is undoubtedly considered when buying a new electric car is, not just the cost of purchasing and running the car, but the practical question “where should I charge my car?”.
That question may be easily answered if you live in either a city or town where Electric Vehicle Charging Points (EVCP) may be readily available, or perhaps you live in a property which has its own drive and (subject to all laws and regulations) you can arrange for your own EVCP to be installed on your property which could then be used to charge your electric car.
However, the question is a little more difficult to answer if for example you rent your home, you live near EVCPs but they are never readily available, or perhaps you don’t live near to any EVCP, maybe for example you live in terraced house which has no drive and no EVCP which is readily available nearby?
It is the last scenario we are considering.
Imagine the scenario – an owner occupier of a terraced house with no drive buys an electric car. There is no EVCP on the surrounding streets. In fact the nearest EVCP is some miles away. The owner-occupier of the terraced house (which abuts the highway) installs a charging point on the side of the terraced house and intends to park the new car on the highway directly outside the terraced house and charge the new car using that recently installed charging point. The problem here is that ‘trailing the charging cable’ over the footpath (which forms part of the highway) from the charging point on the side of the terraced house to charge the car could potentially be considered to be an ‘obstruction of the highway’ which is a criminal offence under s.137 of the Highways Act 1980, unless the obstruction is considered to be ‘de minimis’?
So as to avoid the argument as to whether ‘trailing’ a cable over a highway is an obstruction of the free passage of the highway (and therefore a criminal offence) owner occupiers of terraced houses may decide simply not to purchase an electric car.
Alternatively owners of electric cars may, when purchasing a new property look specifically for properties with their own drive to avoid this issue.
It will be interesting to see whether more EVCPs will be installed on traditional terraced streets (where houses have no drives) or whether alternative charging solutions are offered in future to overcome this issue.
This article is for general awareness only and does not constitute legal or professional advice. The law may have changed since this page was first published. If you would like further advice and assistance in relation to any issue raised in this article, please contact us by telephone or email enquiries@sharpepritchard.co.uk
