Agenda item

The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability submitted a report that outlined proposals to introduce a tariff for the use of electric vehicle (EV) charging points within the car parks managed by the Council in line with the Council’s fees and charges policy, as approved in December 2021.

Members were advised that the proposed tariff was 25p/kwh and the report set out the plan the replace the free EV chargers with charging points with a tariff for use. The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability said that subject to funding for upgrading the infrastructure, a strategy for the implementation of future electric vehicle bays and the infrastructure was currently being developed and would be brought forward in due course. 

The Executive Member said that some current projects were nearing completion and a pricing strategy needed to be determined before these projects could be made available to the public and be enforceable.

Councillor Wyllie, on behalf of Councillors Crystall and Devonshire, asked if the Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability could confirm if any approaches had been considered regarding introducing ultra-fast chargers and what might the associated costs be.

The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability said that the report covered the introduction of tariffs for use in Council provided EV chargers, rather than the Council’s overall approach to charger provision. He said that the mainstay of the current provision consisted of fast destination charges able to dispense 7 to 11kwh.

Members were advised that rapid chargers could be located in some Council owned locations, for example for taxi charging.

The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability said that rapid chargers were best placed near to main roads with easy access routes in and out. He said that recent high level modelling by the Council had indicated a cost of £35,000 plus for two rapid charging points, with the actual cost dependent on whether additional electricity infrastructure was required.

The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability said that if suitable locations were identified and agreed with external operators, one feasible approach could be to offer sites on a concession basis. He said that ultra-fast chargers represented a further step forward in technology.

Members were advised that ultra-fast chargers of 100kwh to 300kwh were outside of the reach of the Council as they were very expensive to install and had a very significant electricity supply capacity. The locations being focussed on were existing petrol station forecourts or dedicated ultra-fast charging hubs.

The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability said that East Herts Council was unlikely to own land of the appropriate size and location to interest the market. He said that the Council was looking to locate to extend the EV charging network into more rural parts of the District. Members were advised that Officers were drawing up a funding bid to the Office of Zero Emission Vehicles in consultation with a number of Parish Councils and village hubs.

The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability said that meetings had taken place with Tesla about possible sites for super chargers. He said dialogue had also been opened with other providers about any opportunities that might arise.

Councillor Devonshire set out the background to the question in that ultra-rapid chargers of 50kwh could charge a car in half an hour to 40 minutes. The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability said that infrastructure all had to be paid for and the increases to electricity substation provision could cost millions of pounds.

Councillor Crystall said that he was of the view that the Council was not charging enough when considering the price difference being paid for the cost of driving 100 miles in an electric or fossil fuel vehicle. He referred to Appendix B and the demographic of electric vehicle drivers.

Councillor Crystall said that he would urge the Council to charge more, perhaps 5 or 10p per unit. He said that Shell and Osprey and other suppliers had substantially increased their prices. Councillor McAndrew commented on the validity of the point that had been made by Councillor Crystall. He said that the Council was setting out to be open and fair with the proposed pricing structure and he was fully aware that the price of electricity would fluctuate in line with the Consumer Prices Index (CPI).

The Head of Operations said that the formulae were based on the new fees and charges policy that was approved by the Council in December, on the basis of full cost recovery.

Councillor Devonshire said that he did not agree with charging more as the Council was trying to encourage people to use electric vehicles. He said that the electricity was cheaper as the cost of an electric car was higher.

Councillor Drake questioned why a maximum stay of five hours had been chosen over three hours for EV bays. She commented on the turnover rate being better with three hours and this should avoid people breaking down with flat batteries. The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability said that one consideration was long stay parking and the option for people to stay in town whilst charging their vehicle. He said that usage would be reviewed after a year and the five hour option could be reduced when there were more vehicles to be charged.

Councillor Drake asked if someone would receive a parking ticking if they had parked in the EV charging bay but their car was not plugged in. The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability confirmed that it was his understanding that if a vehicle had exceeded the time paid for or was not plugged in it would be liable to get a parking ticket.

Councillor Drake asked whether any surveys had been carried out regarding what other providers were charging. She asked about any linkages to wholesale prices and whether there could be reinvestment into further EV bays.

Councillor Devonshire asked about response times if EV charging equipment was out of order when a motorist arrived at an EV charging bay. The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability said that the Member of Parliament responsible for EV Chargers had stated that he was looking into what legislation could be put in place for the maintenance of EV charging points.

Councillor R Buckmaster proposed and Councillor Drake seconded, a motion that the recommendation in the report be endorsed and Officers conduct an equivalent commercial benchmarking survey in respect of EV charging provision with any commercial operators in the eastern side of Hertfordshire.

After being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED – that (A) the principle of, and approach to, charging for the use of electric vehicle charging points in Council managed car parks,  as outlined in the report, in order to inform the Executive’s consideration of the proposal for adoption, be endorsed; and

(B)   Officers conduct an equivalent commercial benchmarking survey in respect of EV charging provision with any commercial operators in the eastern side of Hertfordshire.