Introduction
1. The Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) represents the 22 local authorities in Wales, and the three national park authorities and the three fire and rescue authorities are associate members.
2. It seeks to provide representation to local authorities within an emerging policy framework that satisfies the key priorities of our members and delivers a broad range of services that add value to Welsh Local Government and the communities they serve.
3. We welcome the opportunity to respond to the Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee inquiry into electric vehicle (EV) charging in Wales.
Response to questions
The current charging infrastructure in Wales, and to what extent it is fit for purpose
4.
It is difficult to assess whether the current EV charging
infrastructure in Wales is ‘fit for purpose’ in the
absence of a clear and agreed strategy which sets out what its
actual purpose is. Charging facilities can be – and have been
- provided in a number of settings (e.g. at home, at
workplaces, public and private car parks, on-street) and for a
number of reasons (e.g. to encourage more people to purchase EVs as
part of the drive to decarbonise transport; to raise awareness and
increase sales of EVs; to help overcome the range anxiety
associated with driving EVs; to encourage use of local businesses
whilst charging takes place; to ensure tourists using EVs are not
put off visiting locations in Wales).
5.
Determining the ‘right’ configuration of EV charging
infrastructure and how ‘success’ is to be measured will
depend on its purpose: on what we want it to achieve. If the
strategy is to target commercial and public sector fleet first, the
location of charging points may be very different to an approach
which seeks to influence households and encourage them to charge
overnight at home. Similarly, a manufacturer’s measure of
whether the infrastructure is fit for purpose might be the increase
in EV sales per annum. Government’s target may be more
focused on the estimated level of carbon reduction achieved as a
result of switching to EVs. A hotelier may measure success by the
number of EV users attracted to stay.
6.
Even if we focus on the carbon reduction element, there are key
questions as to the source of the electricity being used – is
it ‘brown’ or ‘green’? Switching car users
to EVs will help to reduce carbon emissions on the highway but will
only lead to a net reduction in overall carbon emissions if the
electricity the vehicles is using comes from green sources.
7.
Whilst local authorities are interested in supporting EV use and a
number have installed charging equipment (see below), there are
risks for any individual authority in investing too heavily in a
local approach, in case a different direction is taken nationally
(e.g. use of hydrogen vehicles). Many car journeys cross LA
boundaries and therefore this is one area where consistency and
familiarity are important.
8.
At present then, there is a mixture of different approaches to the
installation of charging infrastructure that appears to lack a
clear strategy.
How the infrastructure needs to develop to support an increase in
EVs on our roads. How the Welsh Government, private sector and
third sector can work together to develop EV charging
infrastructure
9.
All stakeholders would benefit from the development of a clear
strategy for Wales (aligned to the rest of the UK for cross-border
journeys). Local government should be included as one of the list
of partners and, together, a network of facilities could be
developed that could be used by, and benefit, all. The network
would need to be planned collectively with open standards to meet
all identified needs and accommodate different types of charging.
Strategic locations could be identified (e.g. for north-south
journeys) and then publicised via a publicly available map, showing
the location of charging facilities and who can access them (e.g.
publicly available; public sector only; private use). It should be
possible to have an access code (or similar) that enables a
standard payment system to allocate costs to users as
appropriate.
10. In the same way as electricity users can choose their supplier, an initially publicly funded network of infrastructure could go to the market to identify the best, green source(s) of funding for a specified contract period, to ensure healthy competition. The cost of this infrastructure could be met from borrowing or via a procured private sector provider – to be repaid over time from the cost of each charge. In the medium to long term, development of charging infrastructure might be expected to shift more fully to the private sector if electric vehicle sales increase demand for charging points and the profitability of provision rises (as with privately run petrol filling stations).
Whether the electricity grid in Wales is able to deal with a
significant increase in EV infrastructure, particularly in rural
areas
11.
Clearly, a rapid uptake in EV use would place considerable demands
on electricity supply and may require development of new
sub-stations etc. In Mid Wales in particular there are concerns
about the ability of the network to cope. However, in densely
populated urban areas increased peaks of energy demand are also
likely to be problematic. Expert advice from the energy industry is
needed to answer this question. There are ‘smart
systems’ under development that enable energy demand and
supply to be better balanced throughout the day and night and these
may provide part of the answer.
12.
It may also be possible to locate charging points close to
renewable energy generation locations, served by a private wire,
although there could be risks of cost increases associated with a
monopoly provider.
The potential for electric vehicles to promote behaviour change,
for example in terms of vehicle ownership and car sharing
initiatives
13.
EVs can contribute to behaviour change but need to be promoted as
part of a concerted campaign that sets out clearly the reasons for
and the objectives and advantages of switching to EV use. Given
that EVs are still more expensive (even with the Government subsidy
payment) there are attractions to the vehicles being leased, rented
or shared rather than owned. The concept of ‘Mobility as a
Service’ is important here, with individuals paying for the
transport services they use instead of owning their own
vehicle.
14.
With the advent of smart ‘phones and services such as Uber
taxis, this form of travel is gaining in popularity. It is also
likely to be the method employed for using connected and autonomous
vehicles in future.
To what extent the Welsh Government has acted upon the
recommendations in the Low Carbon Vehicle Report
15.
A number of the recommendations have been taken forward –
e.g. new Government premises have included charging facilities and
small-scale funding has been allocated to install charging points
along the trunk road network. The recommendations called for Welsh
Government to encourage local authorities to take similar steps.
Whilst there have been some general calls to action – e.g.
for the public sector to move to carbon neutrality by 2030 –
there has not been a concerted effort to work with local
authorities on this agenda. Clearly, there have been increasing
financial pressures on local authorities over recent years and it
would be difficult for LAs to invest in charging facilities whilst
cutting back on other services.
16.
Where facilities have been provided it has generally been as part
of wider schemes, often dependent on grant funding and/or where the
private sector has offered to invest up front because there will be
an identified commercial return that will cover their costs over
time.
Examples of best practice from Wales and further afield.
17. The International Council on Clean Transportation produced a report in 2017 that looked at: ‘Emerging best practices for electric vehicle charging infrastructure’ (https://www.theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/EV-charging-best-practices_ICCT-white-paper_04102017_vF.pdf. This contained the following graph showing that Norway and the Netherlands, which have seen electric vehicle shares of more than 5% of new sales, have public charging infrastructure per capita that is several times that of other leading markets.
18.
The report found that generally: “Successful programs have
transparently engaged many stakeholders through integration of
driver feedback on charger deployment, implementation of smart
charging systems, distribution of funding to local governments,
creation of public-private partnerships, and consultation with
electric utilities” (page iv).
19.
Finally, some examples (i.e. not comprehensive) of EV
charging points installed and other local authority initiatives
across Wales include the following:
· Cardiff – pilot scheme, to include six rapid charging points
· Swansea -held a clean air roadshow to showcase electric and hydrogen vehicle technology and has held discussions with partners in the Swansea Bay city region to provide points across South West Wales
· Blaenau Gwent, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire have charging points available for use by the general public
· Monmouthshire and Newport have charging points in a number of their town centre car parks
· Wrexham – has charging points sited in council-owned car parks and, subject to funding, plans to roll more out to locations including Wrexham Industrial Estate and Wrexham Bus Station
· Powys’s capital strategy for 2018-23 included plans for electric charge points in its council car parks
· Ceredigion has charging points at it offices that are available for use by the public as well as staff
· Anglesey has 12 charging points, including seven at the council offices
· Gwynedd Council installed public charging points at five tourism businesses in Meirionnydd as a pilot project
· Caerphilly is bidding for funding to provide charging posts for electric buses to operate across the county borough
·
RCT has six charging points, one of which is generally available to
the public.
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