A report which aims to help local authorities plan adequate EV infrastructure provision across the West of England has been published.
The Western Gateway Sub-national Transport Body (STB), which partners with the West of England Combined Authority and Bath and North East Somerset Council among others, has published the report in conjunction with the Peninsula Transport SBT to cover the entire South West region.
The Study forecasts EV uptake and identifies potential charge point sites in the short-term (until 2030) and longer term (until 2050).
WSP, which was commissioned for this study, drew evidence into a useful and simple tool to predict where, how many and what type of chargers will be required.
Across the South West there are currently 2,408 charge points. By 2030, it is forecast that up to 33,600 publicly accessible charge points could be required.
These charge points would be provided by both the public and private sector, with the public sector expected to deliver up to 20,000 charge points across the South West by 2030. There is potential for additional demand during the busy summer months due to the influx of visitors to the region that will also need addressing.
The data in the study has been shared with local authorities to provide an indication of where charge points should be located and what types of charger should be installed.
This will support local authorities in their Local EV Infrastructure (LEVI) delivery programmes, following the Department for Transport’s announcement of a national £343 million LEVI Fund to help local authorities address the need for public EV charging.
The next step will be to create an easy-to-use interactive dashboard to provide a spatial visualisation of EV uptake and charge point demand, as well as setting up South West EV forum and developing a regional EV strategy.
Allan Creedy, STB Liaison and Partnership Lead, Western Gateway STB, said, “Our joint EV Charging Study provides the evidence we need to determine our requirements for EV uptake in the South West. It assesses barriers to uptake including land use and grid capacity, anticipates consumer behaviour and addresses the issues specific to our region, such as tourism and seasonal changes in charging demand. Now we look forward to establishing a South West EV charging infrastructure forum to engage more widely with stakeholders to address these strategic issues.
“Demand for charging is not equally distributed across our region. It is important to understand where charge points would be most beneficial and to focus investment in these areas. This important study provides an evidence base to support future EV charging across the South West, helping our local authorities within the Peninsula and Western Gateway areas inform the planning of their EV charging networks and creation of their EV strategies.”
Read the Electric Vehicle Charging Study here.
Image by VariousPhotography from Pixabay
