A barrier to EV registrations in the UK is emerging from a lack of coherence related to on-street charging
There exists a real opportunity for the sanctification of one person, or perhaps a small firm, highlights Iain Robertson, that might be able to get the 400+ local councils in the UK to sing off the same hymn sheet in the area of electrification.
Put simply, government has issued its dictate in respect of stopping the sales of fossil fuelled motor vehicles by 2030 but already cash-strapped local authorities appear to have difficulties in complying with ‘suggestions’ for on-street charging. Government has concentrated on the galloping costs associated with the pandemic and, whether it likes to admit it, or not, it is forcing the nation back into an austerity programme, which will render many of its plans as unfeasible. A broader consensus about PM Johnson’s popularity (or lack of it) could mean that a Tory government will not hold the balance of power by 2030 and a new government might put back the date for national electrification.
With EV grants cut recently to £2,500 and a lower list price ceiling of £35,000, there has been a race among the car companies to adjust the prices of their least costly EVs, a factor that reinforces a long-held belief that they have been sorely overpriced in the first place. While the national, publicly accessible charging network continues to grow, it is besmirched with unreliability and over-complexity. The domestic charger scene continues to grow like Topsy, with installers’ grants of £350 per unit being managed by the DVLA (because that body already manages new vehicle registrations, as a governmental path of least resistance), but some of the various, largely uncontrolled participants behave like cowboys, which only serves to complicate the situation even more.
A spokesman from the fleet industry, which is doing its best to comply with governmental demands, has stated that around 40% of its drivers reside in terraced rows and apartment buildings, most of which have neither access, nor permission to recharge the EVs into which they are being placed by their employers. Without access to a convenient roadside, overnight charging device, they are forced into seeking out publicly accessible chargers, which is already proving to be inadequate and inefficient. It also needs to be considered that, contrary to the government’s assertion that 55% of the nation’s new car registrations are to fleet customers (with 45% being to private users), the real picture in our nation of small shopkeepers is closer to 90%, which constitutes a major slice and highlights its importance.
There is only a handful of kerbside charger companies operating at present but their efforts to grow a network are stymied by the ‘maybe, maybe not’ attitude adopted by many of the nation’s local councils, with many giving admittedly tacit approval. Apparently, the cost of each kerbside installation is around £2,500, of which three-quarters is met by a national fund, leaving the council to pay the balance of £625, which sounds elementary enough but, as stated earlier, is proving very hard to satisfy under current, reduced budget circumstances.
A positive solution may exist that does not demand costly installations but grants permission to tap into three-phase street lighting, which might be suitable for a growing number of rapid-charging EVs. Each lamppost could provide a plug-in point for up to four vehicles, as long as those EV drivers accessing the sockets manage the placements of their leads, presuming that they are long enough in the first place. Naturally, the distance between typical city lampposts will still leave ‘unserviced’ areas but it could be a cost-efficient start and SMART charging, using an authorised charge card swipe, is technology that is already available.
The fleet spokesman mentioned earlier was unequivocal in his view, adding that a log jam will occur leading to a reduced uptake rate of EVs, until the situation is resolved with significant clarity. Accepting that company taxation benefits, both in terms of benefit-in-kind and corporate, are sure to alter, once the nation is fully electrified, which could be around 2050 at earliest, the incentives for companies to insist on changing their fleets to EVs in the intervening 28¾ years will have reduced value, if an infrastructure cannot be created in a properly organised and timely manner.
Naturally, this does create an opportunity for either one individual (whom I am trying very hard not to call an ‘EV Czar’), or perhaps a small company, to act as influencer and motivator at local council level, while negotiating a blend of minimal groundworks, plug-in sockets, complete with SMART charging, and also being able to demonstrate the amortisation potential of the new hardware costs at a local level. You see, the charging fees could entail a profit-on-return, once the costs related to the initial conversion have been covered and the local authority needs harbour zero concern about its share of the installation. As soon as the first council prepared to take the step does so, the others will follow like tumbling dominoes. This person would attract a sainthood, especially among the immense UK fleet network and even among the EVangelists, very few of which have ever contemplated the options, in their overt push-push of the EV market.
Uppermost in my mind is that the current ‘lawlessness’ that exists around the EV scene and its ancillaries might lead to another example of blame culture, with government pointing the accusatory finger at the nation’s councils and the councils riposting defensively…which would be highly unsatisfactory and inconclusive. Positive action needs to be taken, or the entire ‘greening’ process could be placed in jeopardy. It would be beneficial for government to grasp the nettle, while it is already borrowing up to the hilt just to keep the nation buzzing in its post-EU infancy. In all of this, it is vital to ensure that, whether manufacturing hardware, or providing consultancy services, every element is British and not influenced by outside parties. While other countries have their own electrification strategies, it is important that we exercise our own.
