• • • ELECTRIC VEHICLES • • •


Cheaper public charge points to combat EV charging inequality


Public electric vehicle charge points are being installed on-street in areas that risked being left behind in the UK’s transition to Net Zero – thanks to a new approach which cuts the cost, says Ian Cameron, head of customer service and innovation at UK Power Networks


W


orking with Cambridgeshire County Council, Norfolk County Council, Cambridge City Council and Redbridge


Council, UK Power Networks has led the way in incentivising charge point installers to provide EV chargers in places where the market has so far failed to deliver. The new approach, evolved as part of the Charge


Collective innovation project, reduces the cost of reinforcing the electricity network for connecting customers, so keeps costs as low as possible. Over 50% of households where UK Power


Networks delivers electricity, (London, South East and East of England) do not have off-street parking, making it harder for them to consider an EV as they would solely rely on public chargers. The local electricity network operator is


collaborating with local authorities to show the value in a scalable, long-term means of incentivising new chargepoints. Following a recent regulatory review by Ofgem, a similar model will now be rolled out across the country. For example, 8,000 people in the West


Chesterton and Riverside areas of Cambridge which lack public EV charge points, are the first under the initiative, to get access to chargepoints within a five-minute walk of their homes. Charge points will continue to be installed across Cambridge and Norwich so that 50,000 people will have charging within a five-minute walk of their front door. The findings from the project are informing local


authorities’ Local Area Energy Plans, which ensure that people who park on the street, can take part in the transition to EVs. UK Power Networks is making it easier for local


authorities to understand where charge points should be and how best to purchase them, with the first in a series of handbooks already available. We are making it easier for everyone to make


the switch to an EV regardless of where they park, ensuring that those who need to charge in public have access to the charge points to do so, at a reasonable cost. If we can roll out suitable charging infrastructure, EV adoption will follow. We are making significant strides to bridge the


gap between on and off-street charging, and our collaborative approach with industry leaders and local authorities is beginning to pay dividends for our customers. The Charge Collective project is being carried


out as part of UK Power Networks’ Green Recovery scheme which is fast-tracking the infrastructure required by low carbon projects at 86 sites, to help achieve the Government’s Ten Point Plan towards Net Zero by 2050.


Councillor Lorna Dupre, chair of environment


and green investment committee, Cambridgeshire County Council said: “Supporting our communities to move away from fossil fuel vehicles is increasingly important, however delivering a network of electric vehicle chargers across the County is not easy. “Collaborations like this, with our partner local


authorities and electricity network operator, are vital for us to collectively find solutions to the big challenges we face when rolling out EV infrastructure at scale. I am pleased that the


38 ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING • OCTOBER 2022


Charge Collective project has been such a success and its results are being translated into the pilot charge point project currently being installed in Cambridge.” Councillor Rosy Moore, executive councillor


climate action, biodiversity and environment, Cambridge City Council, added: “We are pleased to have been able to support this important collaboration with UK Power Networks and OZEV which has delivered residential charge points to areas where this otherwise would not have been possible.”


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