Tag Archives: EV

Location data can help build the EV chargepoint network of tomorrow

New report sets out how location data can support local authorities to make good decisions about where EV chargepoints should be installed.

By 2030, the sale of new petrol and diesel cars will be phased out and by 2035 all new cars and vans will be zero emission. The transition to EVs will be enabled by a dependable, well located public charging network that local authorities are ideally placed to help deliver.

Location data can arm local authorities with evidence to rollout a public charging network that gives current and prospective EV owners the confidence to make their journeys, whether in a densely populated city or the countryside. Drivers need to have the same confidence that they can charge their EV as they have that they can refuel their current petrol or diesel vehicle, so they can go about their business unimpeded. This is critical to the growth of the economy, one of the Prime Minister’s five priorities.

Viscount Camrose, Minister, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, said:

The transition to electric vehicles is central to the government’s plan to decarbonise the transport sector, keep the UK at the forefront of clean transport and tackle pollution, all while seizing the potential for growth and job creation in the UK’s growing EV industry.

Local authorities and the wider sector should continue to embrace new location data and analysis to accelerate the targeted rollout of chargepoints so that drivers can find and access reliable chargepoints wherever they live.

The location of chargepoints is as important as absolute numbers. This report explores the breadth of location data and applications available to support local authority decisions about where to install new chargepoints and identifies five opportunities to better use existing location data, as well as new sources of information to:

  • understand the location and availability of existing chargepoints by making chargepoint operator data standardised and consistent
  • understand consumer charging behaviour and travel patterns by using population movement data
  • identify the location of EVs by using commercially-held data about leased vehicles
  • identify existing electricity network capacity through better use of distribution network operator data
  • identify areas without off-street parking by using proxy data

Transport networks need to become more efficient, greener and safer. The Geospatial Commission has been leading a multi-year programme highlighting the opportunities for advanced geospatial applications in the transport sector. The programme has identified how location data can support the future of mobility and next generation transport networks and called out ways to maximise its impact. In 2021 we published ‘Getting to the Point’ which explored the role of location data to help model future demand for chargepoints, identify suitable sites, create a seamless consumer experience and track rollout.

This report highlights that the location of chargepoints is as important as absolute numbers. Consumers want chargepoints to be where they need them and for them to be easily accessible. Local authorities are ideally placed to identify local needs and play a fundamental role in facilitating private sector investment and ensuring all communities have access to reliable public charging infrastructure, especially on-street charging points. They must make informed decisions about how many, which types and where chargepoints will be installed, based on demand and site suitability. Location data and applications can give valuable insight.

Martin Tugwell, Chief Executive, Transport for the North, said:

High quality location data plays a critical role in enabling better decision making on how society can make a rapid transition to achieving a low carbon economy.

Location data and analysis is a vital component of our work at Transport for the North to underpin activities outlined in our regional Strategic Transport Plan, such as supporting our local authorities EV charging planning and delivery, and facilitating private sector investment to drive EV chargepoint rollout.

Steve Ward, Decarbonisation Programme Manager, Transport for Wales, said:

Good quality location data is essential to us helping the public and private sectors collaborate to identify and develop sites for electric vehicle charging. We have worked with datasets from a large number of sources to develop modelling tools that indicate which locations are more suitable for commercially-funded charging facilities, and which could be unlocked by targeting investment in improving electricity supply capacity.

We are sharing the outputs of our mapping with all stakeholders, including the electricity Distribution Network Operators, who are using this data to plan ahead of anticipated demand for charging ‘hotspots.

£3.27 million allocated to upgrade Electric Vehicle charging network in Northern Ireland

A £3.27 million bid to upgrade the Electrical Vehicle charging network across Northern Ireland will see the entirety of the public charging network enhanced for the benefit of communities and electric vehicle users.

Plans for the funding allocation include:

  • replacing 100 fast chargers; the equivalent of 200 charge points
  • upgrading 20 unreliable fast chargers to rapid chargers, more than doubling the existing capacity
  • introducing five high-power charging hubs in key locations, which can charge multiple vehicles at the same time

This would deliver high power charging hubs for the first time in Northern Ireland. The aim is to encourage people to adopt Electric Vehicles and promote green travel, as we transition to cleaner and greener modes of transport.

Drivers to benefit from £20 million EV chargepoint boost

Drivers will have better access to electric vehicle chargepoints across the country, through a new pilot backed by £20 million of government and industry funding announced today (24 August 2022).

Through the innovative Local EV Infrastructure (LEVI) pilot scheme, local authorities and industry will work together to create new, commercial EV charging infrastructure for residents, from faster on-street chargepoints to larger petrol station-style charging hubs.

The rollout supports the government’s drive to encourage more motorists to go electric, which can save drivers money on fuel and running costs, and improve air quality as the country moves towards net zero.

The winners of the pilot fund are:

  • Barnet
  • Dorset
  • Durham
  • Kent
  • Midlands Connect (with Lincolnshire as a lead authority)
  • North Yorkshire
  • Nottinghamshire
  • Suffolk
  • Warrington

The funding is expected to deliver over 1,000 public chargepoints across the areas.

The scheme will help residents without private driveways to have better access to EV chargers, as well as growing the charging network across the country, supporting the nation’s uptake of zero emission vehicles and enabling more people to drive and charge without fear of being caught short, no matter where they are.

The pilot is backed by £10 million of government funding shared among the 9 winning local authorities in the first tranche of the planned £450 million scheme, with winning pilot bids supported by an additional £9 million in private funding. A further £1.9 million will come from public funds across local authorities.

Decarbonisation Minister Trudy Harrison said:

We want to expand and grow our world-leading network of EV chargepoints, working closely with industry and local government, making it even easier for those without driveways to charge their electric vehicles and support the switch to cleaner travel.

This scheme will help to level up electric vehicle infrastructure across the country, so that everyone can benefit from healthier neighbourhoods and cleaner air.

Edmund King OBE, AA president, said:

It is essential that more on-street chargers are delivered to boost the transition to zero emission vehicles for those without home charging.

This injection of an extra £20 million funding will help bring power to electric drivers across England from Durham to Dorset. This is one further positive step on the road to electrification.

RAC head of roads policy Nicholas Lyes said:

We know that there are many drivers who do not have driveways or any form of off-street parking, so investing in streetside charging is an absolute necessity. Drivers can also look forward to the prospect of local charging hubs which will give them somewhere to quickly charge their vehicles without needing to drive any considerable distance. The goal must be to spark electric vehicle uptake by creating an excellent charging infrastructure that caters for everyone’s needs.

The scheme will allow local authorities to provide feedback on how to grow the network and the role the private sector can play.

The new LEVI fund builds on the success of the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS) which has seen nearly 2,900 chargepoints installed so far with funding provided for approaching 10,000 additional chargepoints in the future.

Following growing demand from local authorities, we’re also announcing a further £10 million in funding which has been brought forward for this year, bringing this year’s ORCS funding to £30 million to help maintain ongoing installations.

Tenfold expansion in chargepoints by 2030 as government drives EV revolution

The UK’s charging network has been given a huge boost, as government unveils plans to support the UK market to reach 300,000 public electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints by 2030 – equivalent to almost 5 times the number of fuel pumps on our roads today.

Backed by £1.6 billion, under the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy, charging will become easier and cheaper than refuelling a petrol or diesel car, while new legal requirements on operators will see drivers of EVs able to pay by contactless, compare charging prices and find nearby chargepoints via apps.

The new strategy sets out the government’s aim to expand the UK’s charging network, so that it is robust, fair and covers the entire country – as well as improving the consumer experience at all chargepoints, with significant support focused on those without access to off-street parking, and on fast charging for longer journeys.

£500 million will be invested to bring high quality, competitively priced public chargepoints to communities across the UK. This includes a £450 million Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) fund, which will boost projects such as EV hubs and innovative on-street charging, so those without driveways don’t miss out on cleaner transport.

A pilot scheme for the LEVI fund launching today will see local authorities bid for a share of £10 million in funding, allowing selected areas to work with industry and boost public charging opportunities.

Meanwhile, the LEVI funding includes up to £50 million to fund staff to work on local challenges and public chargepoint planning – ensuring that any development complements all other zero emission forms of travel, such as walking and cycling.

The existing £950 million Rapid Charging Fund will support the rollout of at least 6,000 high powered super-fast chargepoints across England’s motorways by 2035, ensuring the UK continues to lead the Western world in the provision of rapid and ultra-rapid public chargers.

This comes on top of ministers’ pledges to continue addressing any barriers to private sector rollout of chargepoints, such as local councils delaying planning permission and high connection costs.

Ambitious and innovative chargepoint operators are already committed to installing an additional 15,000 rapid chargepoints across England’s entire road network – a quadrupling of the current offer – and over 100,000 on-street chargepoints by 2025.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:

We’re powering ahead with plans to help British people go electric, with our expanding charging network making journeys easier right across the country.

Clean transport isn’t just better for the environment, but is another way we can drive down our dependence on external energy supplies. It will also create new high-skilled jobs for our automotive and energy sectors and ultimately secure more sustainable and affordable motoring for all.

Drivers are at the heart of the revolutionary plan, with rigorous new standards and legislation being introduced to improve people’s experience of using public chargepoints.

The government is mandating that operators provide real-time data about chargepoints. It is ensuring that consumers can compare prices and seamlessly pay for their charging using contactless cards. They will also be able to use apps to find their nearest available chargepoint.

These plans will also require a 99% reliability rate at rapid chargepoints to ensure they are world-class and give consumers confidence in finding chargepoints that work wherever they travel – helping eradicate so-called ‘range anxiety’.

Even with recent trends in electricity prices, EVs still benefit from lower fuel, running and maintenance costs than their petrol and diesel equivalents and the strategy hopes to encourage drivers across the nation to make the switch.

Production costs also continue to fall and some analysts expect purchase price parity with petrol and diesel cars to be reached well within the 2020s.

This forms part of wider government plans to reduce the UK’s reliance on imports of foreign oil, improving the security of our energy supply and reducing the country’s vulnerability to volatility in global energy prices.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said:

No matter where you live – be that a city centre or rural village, the north, south, east or west of the country – we’re powering up the switch to electric and ensuring no one gets left behind in the process.

The scale of the climate challenge ahead of us all is well known and decarbonising transport is at the very heart of our agenda.

That’s why we’re ensuring the country is EV-fit for future generations by the end of this decade, revolutionising our charging network and putting the consumer first.

The private sector plays a key role in helping the country make the switch to electric and the UK’s most-used charging network company, bp pulse, is today announcing its own plans to spend £1 billion on developing charging infrastructure in the UK, supporting hundreds of new jobs.

Richard Bartlett, Senior Vice President, bp pulse, said:

This £1 billion investment is vital to provide the charging infrastructure the UK needs.  We’re investing to build a world-class network.

This investment allows us to deliver more. More high-speed charging in dedicated hubs and on existing fuel and convenience sites. More home charging services. And crucial enhancements to our digital technology that will make charging fast, easy and reliable.

Alongside the pioneering strategy, the government is additionally launching an automotive roadmap outlining joint government and industry commitments to achieve the decarbonisation of road transport.

This is the first in a series of roadmaps that will be published over the course of the year for each sector of the Prime Minister’s Ten Point Plan, showcasing how the UK is delivering on its green commitments.

The roadmap brings together the government’s policies designed to help and support the automotive sector in the shift towards greener transport and will help businesses plan more effectively in the transition to a zero-emission future.

Project launched to support EV chargepoint infrastructure rollout

The Geospatial Commission has today launched a discovery project to explore how location data can be better utilised to support planning and delivery of electric vehicle charge points by local authorities.

The UK is committed to transitioning to electric vehicles (EV) in support of ambitious net zero targets. Local authorities will play a crucial role enabling this transition.

This project will support the approach set out in the government’s Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy, published today by the Department for Transport, which focuses on enabling the rollout of a robust EV charging infrastructure network by 2030. Setting out a vision and approach for EV infrastructure roll-out and expectations of key stakeholders, the Strategy identifies that addressing barriers to data sharing will be important to enable decision making.

Dr Steve Unger, Commissioner at the Geospatial Commission, said:

Location data will play a key role in planning the UK’s transition to electric vehicles and help make net zero a reality. Through this project, the Geospatial Commission will understand the challenges faced by local authorities who wish to exploit location data. By working together, we will be able to unlock the potential for data-driven innovation in transport.

The Geospatial Commission discovery project includes workshops with 10 local authorities to identify challenges and opportunities for better use of location data in the rollout of EV chargepoint infrastructure. This project will be undertaken by technical specialists Frazer-Nash Consultancy.

Matthew Perrin, Digital Services Innovation Lead, Frazer-Nash Consultancy, said:

Geospatial data is vital to planning, installing and running an effective charging infrastructure for electric vehicles. We are really looking forward to working with the Geospatial Commission and local authorities on this important study, providing our expertise in geospatial data and discovery to enable this important step on the UK’s journey to net zero.

Councillor Helen Hayden, Executive Member for Infrastructure and Climate from Leeds City Council, said:

Over the last five years, Leeds has taken a range of actions, offering free electric van trials, discounted parking and requiring charge points in new developments, to accelerate our city’s transition to less polluting vehicles.

With figures showing that the number of plug-in vehicles in Leeds has doubled over the last year, it is vitally important that we understand how best to expand and improve access to charging infrastructure for drivers on the go or without private parking. We are therefore excited to be part of this timely project.

The following local authorities are involved in the project:

  1. Oxfordshire County Council
  2. City of York Council
  3. Norfolk County Council
  4. Greater Manchester Combined Authority
  5. West Sussex County Council
  6. Cornwall Council
  7. Kent County Council
  8. Leeds City Council
  9. Wiltshire Council
  10. Cheshire East Council