CURRENT
AFFAIRS CAN YOU CHARGE AN EV WITHOUT A DRIVEWAY?
he switch to electric and plugin hybrid models is picking up pace, with more than 163,000 battery electric and 106,000 plug-ins registered in the first 11 months of 2021. However, one major hurdle has long been seen as an issue for mass electric vehicle (EV) adoption – the fact more than a third of UK residents live in homes where there is no dedicated off-street parking. That’s a major problem when the vast majority of EV owners prefer to charge at home, benefiting from cheaper electricity and the ease of topping-up at night, when the car is sitting dormant. So, if you live in a house with street parking, or in an apartment with its own car park, should you still consider an electric vehicle, and is there any way to charge it up conveniently?
T
Running a cable across pavement You may be surprised to learn that sensibly running a charging cable across a pavement or pathway isn’t illegal, so it can be possible to charge your plug-in model this way. There are a few caveats, however. For a start, you’ll need to ensure the cable is as flat to the ground as possible and removed as soon as charging is complete. If you live in an upstairs flat, this will also be a no-go, as you can’t trail a charging cable from an upstairs window. There’s also a concern that if someone should trip over the cable, you will be liable. For this reason, it can be prudent to buy a tough plastic cable protector in a bright colour, of the variety you see at public events and concerts. While feasible in most areas, some more practical issues include the fact you’ll need to be able to bag a space near your property and have a long enough charging cable to reach. Using a simple extension lead
“...RUNNING A CHARGING CABLE ACROSS A PAVEMENT OR PATHWAY ISN’T ILLEGAL...” is usually not recommended for car charging, due to the prolonged high amperage required.
What are the alternatives? If you don’t like the idea of running a cable to your car, or live in a flat, there are several alternatives. A good first port of call is to contact the local authority to check if there are plans to install on-street charging points in the area. There’s an on-street residential charging scheme (ORCS), which is a government grant for installing public chargers. If enough people in the area request a charger this way, and the local authority can prove there’s a shortage of local charging infrastructure, there’s a strong case for accessing funding. Another potential route is charging your plug-in car at work, rather than at home. If your workplace already has a charger, this will be an easy fix, but if not, it could be worth looking
into the Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS). This can contribute up to 75% (capped at £350 per charging socket) towards the cost of fitting electric vehicle chargers for employee and business use. If neither of these are possible, then the number one alternative is the public charging network, which has grown dramatically in recent years. Before purchasing or leasing an EV or PHEV, we’d recommend downloading a charging network map such as Zap Map, to find out which chargers are available in your area. Ensure you filter these by charging speed and check out prices, because not all chargers are equal. While a 7kW charger may be cheap (or even free) to use, it could take hours to top-up, while one of the latest 350kW chargers may cost more per kWh consumed, but can replenish the battery in the latest EV models to 80% in around 20 minutes. Andy Goodwin
www.dieselcar.com
065
