Agenda item

Report by Assistant Director (Environment and Public Protection)

The Committee is in particular asked to consider how the Council is progressing with the following:

1.   Delivery of the aims and actions outlined in the EV Strategy to support residents within West Sussex transition to electric vehicles.

2.   The West Sussex Chargepoint Network and whether there is more that can be done to engage with residents and gain greater support for the programme.

3.   The transition to EV within its own fleet.

45.1     The Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change, Cllr Urquhart, introduced the report saying that whilst the initial strategy had been put in place by her team, they were now working closely with the Highways Service who are leading on the roll out phase. 

45.2     The Committee received a presentation from the Assistant Director (Environment and Public Protection) on progress so far and the Committee asked questions and a summary of those questions and answers follows.

45.3     Committee members asked if the 25% discount for low emission vehicles on residential permits across West Sussex could be increased to provide a greater incentive.  It was reported that the discount was part of the fees and charges which were regularly reviewed, and it could be looked at with a view to increasing or decreasing in line with market values.

45.4     The focus for residential areas was to use slower chargepoints, which were cheaper to use, with rapid chargepoints in public areas e.g car parks.  An initial investigation had been undertaken by the contractor into rolling out rapid chargepoints.

45.5     The first batch of consultations for the on-street placement for chargepoints had raised some objections.  Officers were reviewing objections to pick out common threads and apply this learning to future placement proposals.  The biggest objection currently was the loss of parking space.  Members were keen that officers kept communities onside for these proposals and visited sites at various times of the day to assess them.

45.6     The plan for placement of on-street chargepoints would be on pavements or verges and the guidance on the minimum pavement width was that there should be 1.8m of useable space behind a chargepoint to allow mobility scooters and prams room to pass.  These chargepoints would have dedicated spaces covered by a TRO for electric vehicle charging only and could be enforced by civil enforcement officers. 

45.7     Members were keen that users had options to use contactless direct payment as well as apps and pre-registered RIFD cards.  Officers reported that operators were looking at how they could offer a range of easy payment options.

45.8     Concern was raised at the number of broken charging points generally within the national network and officers confirmed that maintenance was included in the contract and when chargepoints were broken they show up on an app and this could be highlighted to the maintenance operators.  Currently reliability is very high for Connected Kerb chargepoints. 

45.9     Members were advised that the transition to an electric vehicle fleet for the County Council would be a longer-term plan as there were currently 9–12-month lead times for the purchase of electric vehicles.  Calculations had shown, when looking at upfront capital leasing costs, fuel, and maintenance costs, that there was little difference between electric vehicles and internal combustion vehicles.  Calculations re-run recently showed figures still looked comparable despite the current high cost of electricity.  Consideration also had to be given to where staff would be able to charge the vehicles.  Some staff who needed to get straight to work, for example highways inspectors, might ideally have home charging options, rather than travelling to a hub to charge a vehicle or using the public network.  Consideration also needed to be given to how payment of the charging cost could be directed to the County Council and not the staff member, but suitable software solutions existed. 

45.10  Members asked if there was any concern about the electrical network capacity to charge electric vehicles as take-up increased.  Officers reported this was a well understood problem and there was a degree of confidence that capacity would keep track with the use of some interesting potential solutions to it.  It was hoped in the future that there could be some solar panel connections to suitably located chargepoints

45.11  The Government had not indicated what funding would be available to support take up from April 2023, but it was expected that it funding would become more targeted.

45.12  Work was being undertaken with a number of collaborating organisations, e.g. parish councils, community halls, and Committee members welcomed this initiative.

45.13  The Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change, Cllr Urquhart, thanked the Committee for their comments and questions and said they would be happy to return on an annual basis to update the Committee.

45.14  Resolved – That the Committee:

1.   Welcomes the progress report.

2.   Advocates regular reviews of the 25% discount offered within the fees and charges review.

3.   Welcomes the reassurances that pavement widths would be maintained for all users.

4.   Thanks officers for giving them a better understanding of the procurement and cost criteria in transitioning the County Council fleet to electric vehicles.

5.   Welcomes the involvement of community halls and non-profit organisations in the roll out of chargepoints.

6.   Reinforces the need for residents adjacent to proposed chargepoint sites to be engaged before the Traffic Regulation Order consultation process starts.