EV Charging
Case reference FOI2023/00568
Published 30 March 2023
Request
I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request the following information. Please may you provide me with:
1. What is the council's long-term EV strategy?
2. How many electric vehicle charging points have the council installed in the local authority? Including a split of slow, fast and rapid.
3. How many do the council plan to install over the next 12 months and financial year 2023/24? Including slow and fast charging points.
4. Will the council tender for charging points in point 3? If Yes, when? and which framework. And what funding will be available?
5. Are you receiving grant funding for electric vehicle infrastructure from the central government?
6. If yes, please confirm if this is via the On-street Residential Charging Scheme (ORCS) or LEVI funding.
7. How much will the council spend on installing electric vehicle charging points (as GBP and as a percentage of the overall 2023/24/25 budget)?
8. Who is in charge of leading the electric vehicle charging projects, their department and contact information?
9. Does the authority allow drilling in lamp columns to accommodate the installation of electric vehicle charging points?
10.What execution issues have been faced in implementing your current EV strategy, if any?
Response
1. What is the council's long-term EV strategy?
The council has a draft EV strategy which will sit within the Local Transport Plan once finalised.
2. How many electric vehicle charging points have the council installed in the local authority? Including a split of slow, fast and rapid.
12 dual socket charge points in 11 council car parks were installed in 2013/14. Two of these passed into town council ownership in 2016 and 2 have since been removed. They are all fast chargers (7kW). 3 rapid chargers (50kW) were installed in council car parks by SWARCO on behalf of Highways England in 2021.
3. How many do the council plan to install over the next 12 months and financial year 2023/24? Including slow and fast charging points.
The council has a concession contract with a charge point operator and plans for expansion of the charging points in council car parks are being developed. The contractor is aiming to install charge points to serve an additional 118 charging bays by April 2024. The charge points will be a mix of fast (7-22kW) and rapid (30 - 100kW) charge points - the number and location of which are yet to be finalised.
The council is one of 5 local authorities that will be installing on street charge points as part of a successful LEVI pilot project consortium bid. The number and location of the charge points has not yet been finalised. Installations are expected to take begin in 23/24.
4. Will the council tender for charging points in point 3? If Yes, when? and which framework. And what funding will be available?
Charge points in council car parks are covered by the existing contract with Wenea and Gamma.
The consortium LEVI bid will be delivered through contracts procured using the Oxford DPS framework. Dates for procurement are not yet finalised but expected to be late summer 2023.
5. Are you receiving grant funding for electric vehicle infrastructure from the central government?
The 2013/14 installations were funded by the Plugged in Midlands scheme.
LEVI funding has been approved through the consortium project pilot fund bid for onstreet charge points.
The SWARCO rapid chargers were funded by Highways England.
6. If yes, please confirm if this is via the On-street Residential Charging Scheme (ORCS) or LEVI funding.
LEVI funding
7. How much will the council spend on installing electric vehicle charging points (as GBP and as a percentage of the overall 2023/24/25 budget)?
All contracts currently planned or in place are using the concession contract model which incurs no cost to the council other than officer time.
8. Who is in charge of leading the electric vehicle charging projects, their department and contact information?
The Interim Service Director for Highways and Transport is the lead officer and the Sustainability & Climate Change Team (S&CC) are managing the EV projects. The S&CC team can be contacted via S&CC@herefordshire.gov.uk
9. Does the authority allow drilling in lamp columns to accommodate the installation of electric vehicle charging points?
We have no plans to install street lamp chargers at the moment but will be exploring this option, including streetlamp suitability, in the future.
10. What execution issues have been faced in implementing your current EV strategy, if any?
The location and number of charge point Installations has been heavily influenced by network capacity issues and DNO costs.
Documents
This is Herefordshire Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
You can browse our other responses or make a new FOI request.