Call for on-street electric vehicle charging strategy

New research commissioned by Vauxhall UK has discovered a lack of on-street electric vehicle charging strategy by local councils – including here in the Harborough District.

A Freedom of Information request revealed that over 70% of UK councils still have no strategy in place to provide on-street residential charging for EVs. This is despite the country lagging behind its target of installing 300,000 such points by 2030 for owners who can’t charge up where they live.

In the Harborough District, latest statistics show the council has installed 25 chargepoints to date with another six planned. However none of these is classed as on-street residential. As 40% of UK homes don’t have a driveway, Vauxhall says this provision is critical to EV uptake, as current data shows that 80% of all EV charging is done at home.

This is why the car maker says it’s launched a special “enablement fund” (on Tuesday 15th August) – to help councils understand the scale of on-street charging issues, and the solutions available, ahead of the Government’s planned ban on the sale of new combustion engined cars in 2030.

Harborough District Council has advised HFM News that, unlike points in its car parks, the provision of on-street EV charging is the responsibility of Leicestershire County Council.