The rollout of on-street electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure by local authorities has been branded “inconsistent” in a new report.

Field Dynamics, in partnership with Zap-Map, found that the number of on street chargers has increased by 68% in the last two years, but coverage has only improved by 42%.

Ben Allan, managing director of Field Dynamics, said: “In an ideal world, all residents would benefit equally from investments in On-Street chargers; so, as the number of chargers increased, the coverage would increase by the same amount.  Yet this is not what’s demonstrated in the latest study.”

On-street households – those which have no off-street parking – account for 35% of all households in Great Britain. Data provided by Zap-Map was used to identify charger sites and subsequently analyse the number of on-street households, within a five-minute walk of the nearest site. 

London Boroughs have achieved coverage of nearly 60%, while Metropolitan councils average less than 14%. National average coverage stands at 14%.

Increases in coverage over the last two years was labelled “very inconsistent”, with limited evidence of any contributing trends. As an example, of the 225 councils that provided 10% or less coverage in 2020, the increases range from 0% additional coverage to 24% additional coverage.

Allan added “The market is still very immature and without mainstream behaviours and data, the right approach can only be inferred.  However, the clear summary of this report is that 1) there little consistency in approach and outcome, 2) little correlation between demand and investment and 3) little standardization between council types.  This inherently means that while some are getting it right, many are getting it expensively wrong and will carry on doing so for some time.”

The Field Dynamics on-street charging report can be viewed here: https://www.field-dynamics.co.uk/research/inconsistencies-in-local-authorities-ev-charging-approach/

Department for Transport (DfT) statistics, published in February, show there are more 250,000 home charging devices, but just 2,038 devices installed through the on-street residential charging scheme.

The Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP) has created a map of the UK that shows where fleets need kerbside charge points close to the homes of company van drivers.

It illustrates the kerbside charging needs of drivers employed by members of the trade association in order to adopt an EV.

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