Drivers in terraced houses find it difficult to charge electric cars
- author, Sally Bowman
- role BBC News, Nottingham
If we want to ditch our polluting vehicles and replace them with cleaner, greener electric cars, we have a problem: the sheer number of homes without off-street parking.
Town streets filled with row houses present a particular challenge. Research by the RAC Foundation suggests that in Nottingham forty per cent of households do not have access to a private parking space.
Looking for solutions, councils are proposing digging covered channels through pavements so motorists can charge outside their homes. Others install fast chargers on street corners.
The Government has already approved payments of £185m to local authorities, part of a £381m Local Electric Vehicle (LEVI) fund to improve charging infrastructure for electric and hybrid vehicles.
Electric car driver Alison Chilton loves her curbside charging point
One beneficiary is teacher Alison Chilton. When she leased her first electric car five years ago, charging it at public charging stations was inconvenient and expensive. She found that the cheapest public grid near her cost 59 pence per kilowatt hour (kWh). By contrast, off-peak electricity use at home is 7.5p per kWh.
“It seems a bit unfair that because you don’t have a driveway you have to pay four or five times more,” she says.
But now Nottinghamshire County Council has provided a free solution in the form of a shallow covered channel running from the kerb to her own charging point installed next to her front door. The cable lies flat under the pavement, eliminating any potential tripping hazards.
“It changed my life,” Alison says. “It means I can park my car in front of my house at any time; it doesn’t matter if there is no charge left in it. You can’t do that if you have to go somewhere else to charge it.”
Developed by Kerbo charge, the channels normally cost around £1,000 to install but are free as part of the pilot project. So far, the council has equipped ten households and is encouraging more drivers to apply.
Other councils are trying to reduce the number of cars competing for parking spaces on narrow streets. In the Darley area of Derby, the city council has teamed up with car hire company Enterprise to offer local drivers free membership for the first year of an electric car sharing club. They also receive a mileage voucher on their first trip.
Cllr Carmel Swan says reducing traffic can improve neighbourhoods
“There is evidence to suggest that a car-sharing club in a given location could take 20 cars off the road,” says Darby city councilor Carmel Swann. On a terraced street where parking spaces are at a premium, which can make a big difference.
Labour’s cabinet member for climate, transport and sustainability says the car-sharing club also offers skeptical drivers the chance to try out an electric car before committing to buy.
New charging points are popping up on street corners in Derby
The municipality is using funding from the Department of Transport to install electric chargers on street corners. This means charging points closer to where people live and work.
Residents say traffic is a particular problem in the Darley area, especially at school time.
“Parking is a nightmare here,” said one man. “It’s a bit inconvenient at the moment as all those parking spaces are now taken up by electric cars. After all, we need to start using more bicycles and public transport. There are other options. We don’t have to rely on cars.”
