Support for local authority EV goals While the electric vehicle evolution is global, the impacts will be local, and local authorities will be expected to play their part in delivering a robust charging infrastructure. The Renewable Energy Association’s Daniel Brown shares some advice on how local authorities can champion electric vehicles
Do you know what the councils of Watford, Westminster, and Dundee all have in common with the cities of Fremont in California, Hangzhou in China, and Wrocław, Poland? It’s that they all are playing key roles in the electrification of the UK’s car and van fleet. Change is coming fast. The Committee on Climate Change’s analysis that 60 per cent of car sales need to be electric by 2030 to meet our carbon targets could well be achieved earlier as the manufacturing hubs that are home to Tesla, Geely, and Nissan alike continue to champion battery powered transport.
thinking ahead about the grants and tax breaks in place, how to encourage complementary technologies such as solar and energy storage, and both sharing and learning from best practice in terms of supporting developers, and the consumer protection schemes that are in place. That’s why the REA’s EV group developed a report last year, called ‘Taking Charge: How Local Authorities can champion electric vehicles’, which is designed to support council officers, councillors, developers, and engaged individuals who seek to support this important transition. The development of the right types of infrastructure, particularly in terms of where it’s located and operated, is critical to both ensuring that the consumer experience of this shift is preferable to the current system – EVs needs to save our citizens money as well as improve our local environment. Our Taking Charge report puts into the public domain a host of pragmatic proposals, the product of interviews with a range of local authorities and charge point developers by the REA – and the paper is finding support in many corners, from parliamentarians to councillors and local government trade groups.
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Taking action The report proposes a range of actions, including appointing an ‘EV Car Czar’ from the council body to make it easier for charge point developers to rapidly install the equipment needed. It urges local authorities to make the ‘Milton Keynes Promise’ to ensure that on-street charge points are made available near to those who own EVs. Other recommendations include making it easier for residents to request on-street charge points, investigating how solar and energy storage technologies can power our cars, and creating an ‘EV Plan’ within the local authority, which allocates a budget and identifies clear deliverables. Giving benefits for early EV Setting drivers, such as free parking up a ca r or allowing EVs to use bus c lu b can be a lanes is also proposed, as is n e f fi way of cient commiting to purchasing get EVs as part of the council’s EVs on ting more t h transport fleet, and/or working e r oa and ge with bus service operators tting m d private ore and contractors to encourage invest their fleets to go electric. involve ment The report also suggests d establishing an ‘energy board’ of councillors and staff that looks at how the local authority can reduce costs from sustainable energy technologies, But while this great electric vehicle and how to introduce new income streams evolution may be global, the impacts as funding from central government falls. will be local, and local authorities will be expected to play their part in delivering Education is key the affordable, reliable, and accessible EV Numerous of LAs are doing substantial infrastructure that will allow us to reduce amounts of work improving the EV emissions and cut costs for consumers. infrastructure but if people don’t know then the uptake will not follow. A major example Supporting local authorities of this is the installation of on-street charge Consumer demand for EVs and a growing points, if these charge points are not heavily central government push for the deployment promoted and visible for the public to see of infrastructure will impact local authorities then the benefits of installing the points E in a host of ways. Officers need to be
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