Local councils in England will be encouraged to install pavement gullies that link houses to the kerbside so that electric cars owners can charge their cars from home if they do not have a driveway.
The new government scheme hopes to stop cables trailing across pavements, as EV owners in built up areas where off-street parking is scarce, try to charge their cars. The Department for Transport has said it will put £25m towards “cross-pavement” charging – essentially a narrow cable channel with a cover on top.
The government will also allow signs to advertise public chargers on motorways and A-roads, and fund 1,200 charge points for the NHS, including ambulances, as part of a package of measures to encourage the adoption of electric vehicles.
Providing access to chargers is a key factor in encouraging drivers to switch to electric cars, which are far cleaner than petrol and diesel engines. However, charging can be tricky for 9.3m households without an off-street parking space, making them reliant on public chargers.
The government levies VAT on the electricity from public chargers, making it much more attractive to charge using VAT-free home electricity. That has led to many drivers trailing cables from their homes over the pavement to their cars.
The fund for charger gullies, at only £25m, does not represent a large investment for the government. However, if more councils rolled out gullies it could provide tens of thousands of drivers with the ability to charge at home.
Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, said: “We know access to charging is a barrier for people thinking of making the switch, and we are tackling that head-on so that everyone – whether or not they have a driveway – can access the benefits of going electric.”
Many councils have already rolled out cross-pavement charging. For instance, covered gully manufacturer Kerbo Charge counts 30 councils where its products can be installed, from Stirling in Scotland to Cornwall. However, other local authorities have been more cautious because of concerns over trip hazards on pavements and ongoing maintenance costs – as well as arguments over who has the right to park outside each house.
Charger gullies tend to cost a few hundred pounds, with the total cost coming to about £1,000 when including labour. Other sellers include Pavecross and Gul-e.
Michael Goulden, the co-founder of Kerbo Charge, said it was “excellent news that the government recognises the importance of cross-pavement charging to encourage the adoption of charging for people without driveways”.
Having to rely on public charging is a “clear barrier to adoption of EVs” by people in urban areas, with energy from some rapid chargers costing more per mile than petrol, Goulden said.
The change to signage rules has also been welcomed by charging companies, who are keen to increase usage of chargers for topping-up on longer journeys along motorways and A-roads.
Delvin Lane, the chief executive of InstaVolt, a provider of rapid chargers, said it was a “crucial step” to “improve consumer confidence and bolster EV adoption”.
He said: “The UK’s public EV infrastructure, so critical to mass adoption, is already largely in place, and now this signage will finally showcase it to drivers in a visible, accessible way.”