Electric Vehicle Charging Policy
The intended purpose of the Electric Vehicle Charging Policy is to provide information and guidance on the installation of public electric vehicle charging points in North Lincolnshire.
Consultation has been undertaken with the following council departments to ensure the content of the policy is factual and accurate:
- Highways
- Street lighting
- Network management
- Planning
- Legal
- Parking services
North Lincolnshire Council’s Electric Vehicle Charging Policy has been created in response to the Public Charge Point Regulations (2023) guidance which ensures that the experience of consumers using public charge points across the UK is consistent and positive. This Electric Vehicle Charging Policy will aid the transition to electric vehicles and will help to support the authority deliver on both our Green Future ambitions in line with the Council Plan and North Lincolnshire’s EV Infrastructure Strategy.
Introduction
1.1 As the UK transitions to Electric Vehicles (EVs), the public charging network will continue to become more important. Whilst most people will do most of their charging at home, those without off-street parking and on long journeys will be reliant on public charging. It is important that we can boost confidence in the public charging network by ensuring that consumers can use public charge points easily. It is forecast that in North Lincolnshire there will be more than 40,000 EVs on the road by 2030. As EV’s strive towards reaching price parity with Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles, North Lincolnshire are now experiencing first-hand an increase in the number of EVs. With this transition comes many challenges for the authority to overcome.
1.2 As the nation embarks on this transformation to zero-emission transport, it is critical that Electric Vehicle Charging Points (EVCPs) being deployed are compliant with existing PCPR regulations. The EV Charging Policy document has therefore been created to support officers to deploy EVCPs and associated charging infrastructure in a consistent, co-ordinated, and compliant manner. It aims to protect and safeguard the organisation, whilst act as a guide for installations only.
2. Scope
2.1 The current regulations (PCPRs 2023) consider an EVCP to be public when its sole use is by any members of the public and it will meet the requirements outlined in below.
Examples of EVCPs that are considered accessible to the public are:
- EVCPs located in publicly owned car parks and residential car parks where parking bays are not designated to individual households or group of households.
- EVCPs located in privately-owned car parks to which the public has access, such as supermarket and hotel car parks, and those at service areas.
- EVCPs located on public roads for public use.
2.2 A public EVCP includes situations in which an EVCP;
- may only be accessed during restricted hours.
- is situated in a public car park, whether or not that car park is available only to customers of specific goods or services e.g., a supermarket car park.
2.3 A public EVCP does not include:
- a workplace EVCP that is not accessible to the public at any time.
- an EVCP that is restricted for the exclusive use by:
- vehicles produced by a specific manufacturer.
- people engaged in a specific occupation.
- occupiers of residential premises and their visitors.
2.4 The PCPRs only apply to public EVCPs and not to those EVCPs that are exclusively for workplace or domestic use. Examples of charging infrastructure that is not considered accessible to the public are detailed in the table below.
Occupiers of residential premises and their visitors
- Residential care homes.
- Multi-occupancy residential premises with shared parking area.
- A car parking area restricted for the sole use of residents and/or visitors.
- Charge points on private driveways.
- Charge points sited on residential streets whose use is restricted only for local residents.
- Charge points located on a private driveway which are made available for peer-to-peer charging.
- A gully running from a home to the pavement for a cable and connector carrying electricity supplied by a domestic tariff.
People while at their place of work
- Car parking areas reserved exclusively for a company’s staff or fleet use.
Exclusive use in respect of a vehicle produced by a specific car manufacturer
- Car dealership forecourts for a specific manufacturer which allow only their customers to use their charge points.
- Proprietary networks whose charge points and use are restricted to one specific car manufacturer.
People engaged in specific occupations
- Charge points intended for sole use including but not limited to taxi drivers, ambulances, or other emergency services.
3. Highways & footpaths
3.1 Current Highway Regulations require EV Charge Point Operators (CPO’s) to apply for a license under Section 50 of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 (NRSWA) to install EVCPs on footpaths and highways. North Lincolnshire Council’s Street Work Permit Scheme stipulates the full requirements for obtaining a street work license along with associated application costs.
3.2 For a wheelchair user and a pedestrian to pass easily and safely side by side, a footpath width of 1.5m must be maintained when installing EVCPs on the public highway.
3.3 To avoid creating a tripping hazard, chargepoints should not be placed at the back of a pavement or wall mounted where this requires the cables to be stretched across a public pavement.
3.4 EVCPs should not be installed in locations where the available pavement space has already been restricted by other street furniture such as road signs, feeder pillars and bike racks.
3.5 Section 58 restrictions protect streets following the completion of substantial works and prevent the new works from being excavated by other works promoters or for successive works to take place in the same location. This protection would legally prevent future planned works from taking place for a pre-determined time once the works have been completed. Different periods of restriction apply depending on the type of work completed and the reinstatement category of that street. These can range from six months to five years.
4. Distribution network operator
4.1. Northern Powergrid (NPG) is North Lincolnshire’s ‘Distribution Network Operator (DNO)’. A DNO is a company licensed to distribute electricity in the UK. Before deploying EV charging infrastructure in North Lincolnshire, NPG must provide formal consent by providing the authority with a connection approval for each EVCP location. This is to ensure that the network has the capability to manage the additional electricity demand and ensure that any third parties, such as CPO’s comply with their internal regulatory requirements e.g. H&S protocols.
4.2. At the time of creating this policy (April 2024), NPG do not allow the use of o-pen devices within street light EVCP’s. This should be considered in the procurement of any charging infrastructure.
5. Charging technologies and locations
5.1. North Lincolnshire Council permits a range of different types of EVCI to accommodate the diverse needs of residents, businesses and visitors to the area. This includes;
- streetlight charging points and satellite bollards
- cross pavement channels
- build outs
- wall mounted
- pedestals.
6. Payment methods
6.1. All new public EVCPs that are 8kW and above deployed after November 2024 and all public EVCPs of 50kW and above must offer contactless payment either per public charge point or per charging site if there are more than one public charge point.
6.2. If contactless is offered per charging site, the payment terminal must be near the public EVCP. For example, public EVCPs installed across multiple nearby streets would not constitute a single charging site as they are not installed in close proximity to each other.
6.3. CPOs must ensure that contactless is offered to consumers on an ad-hoc access basis, without requiring a consumer to enter a pre-existing contract with the operator.
6.4. The contactless payment may accept payment such as Apple and Google Pay but must also accept contactless bank cards. Additional payment methods, such as an app or QR code may also be available.
7. Reliability
7.1. Charge point operators must ensure they meet the reliability requirement which requires their public charge points to be available 99% of the time. This will be measured as an average (mean) across a charge point operator’s rapid network of public charge points of 50kW and above.
7.2. Reliability will be measured through Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) object statuses using the Open Charge Point Interface protocol (OCPI) as the mandated data standard within these regulations.
8. Permitted development
8.1 If a property has off-street parking it is likely the installation of an EV home charger will fall under permitted development rights. As such, no planning application is required provided it meets the following criteria set out by the Town and Country Planning Order 2015.
8.2 For properties that are classified as a listed building or in an area of conservation, a full planning application may be needed and guidance should be sought from the Local Planning Authority.
8.3 The installation of EVCPs and associated infrastructure by local authorities or on behalf of a local authority is considered to be permitted development according to Part 12, Class A, paragraph (b) of the General Permitted Development Order (GPDO).
The reference in Class A to any small ancillary building, works or equipment is a reference to any ancillary building, works or equipment not exceeding 4 metres in height or 200 cubic metres in capacity.
If any EV charging and associated infrastructure is not carried out by, or on behalf of, the local authority then Part 2, Classes D and E of the GPDO would apply and the proposed installation would need to comply with the conditions within this legislation in order to be deemed permitted development.
9. Parking
9.1 All public EVCPs are for community benefit and the council will not allocate on street or public car parking spaces for individuals.
9.2 Traffic Regulation Orders (TRO’s) are not enforced for any on-street EVCPs. This means there is no dedicated bay for an EV user whilst charging their car and the space is accessible to ICE vehicles without any enforceable measures.
9.3 TRO’s are enforced in council owned car parks which ensures that only EV users park their vehicle in the dedicated EVCP bay. Penalty Charge Notices will be applied to residents who park their ICE vehicle in these spaces.
9.4 North Lincolnshire Council do not apply a parking tariff while actively charging an EV.
9.5 The council will not permit trailing cables from residential or commercial buildings, that do not have off street parking as it increases the risk for pedestrians and users of the public highway.
Electric vehicle charging glossary
Electric Vehicle (EV) – Any vehicle powered by an electric motor. See subtypes (BEV, HEV, PHEV).
Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) – An electric vehicle that runs solely on battery power. The battery can be recharged by plugging into a compatible electric source (charging station).
Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) – A vehicle powered by a combination of self-charging electric motor and an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE). The electric motor starts the car, powers it for a short distance and then switches to ICE.
Plug in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) – A HEV with an electric motor that is recharged by plugging into a compatible electric source (charging station).
Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) – A vehicle that is powered by petrol or diesel.
Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) – Any vehicle that produces zero emissions during operation, e.g. a BEV.
Electric Vehicle Charging Point (EVCP) – A device that charges an electric vehicle by connecting it to a source of electricity via a cable.
Kilowatt Hours (kWh) – A measurement of the power of one kilowatt (1,000 watts) maintained for one hour, used to determine the total power potential of a battery.
Alternating Current (AC) – Electricity at home is often provided using alternating current, at a lower speed (sometimes 7kW). When using a home charger, power typically travels through a socket to a converter in the car. This converts that energy into DC to store in the vehicle’s battery.
Direct Current (DC) – A rapid or ultra-rapid charging point will supply energy to a vehicle in DC. This means that the energy does not need to be converted and can go straight into the battery. As a result, DC chargers allow for high speed charging.
On Board Charger (OBC) – OBC’s convert AC to DC to charge an EV’s battery.
Charge Point Operator (CPO) – a company or entity responsible for setting up and managing electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure. Their primary role encompasses both public and private charging stations, and they deal with the necessary hardware and software required to manage these stations efficiently.
Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) – Everything needed to charge an EV, including connectors, cables, and charging points. EVSE includes safeguards to avoid overcharging.
Public Charging – Charging stations located in public spaces (dedicated public charging sites, public streets, etc.) and accessible to everyone.
Charge Point Management System (CPMS) – Software that manages and optimizes the EV charging process, including operations, payment, driver apps, dynamic load management, EV roaming, and more.
Contact
If you have any queries on the content of the policy, you can contact the EV Project Team for further details: EVcharging@northlincs.gov.uk