Local networks ‘barrier’ to installation of EV charging points

Upfront investment on the distribution network should be encouraged to remove bottlenecks that threaten to stymie the mass roll out of electric vehicles (EVs), MPs have heard.

Robert Evans, chair of the UK Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment Association, told the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy select committee yesterday (8 May) local networks are one of the key “barriers” to more rapid installation of charging points that are vital to encouraging greater uptake of EVs by consumers.

The government has set a target or stopping the sale of purely combustion engine powered cars and vans by 2040.

He said: “It’s a bit like dealing with BT: it doesn’t stop things but delays things.

“At the moment, they [DNOs] don’t invest ahead of market demand because costs are transferred to the general consumer so they are reticent to invest.

“But if we want to move to the 2040 target they have to invest and that means being sanctioned to push for investment in the low voltage network. Otherwise, we won’t get infrastructure installed quickly enough.”

Evans also called for the DNOs to help cut the installation times for charging points by increasing staffing levels devoted to such work.

And he said that while smart or managed charging was a step in the right direction, it was only a short-term measure and not the long-term solution, which is to reinforce the grid network.

He said measures in the government’s electric vehicles legislation to encourage charging management by demand load balancing are “helpful” but will only “postpone” the need to upgrade the network.

Evans also raised concerns that constraints on the capacity of distributed networks may result in EV owners being refused permission for charging points.

“The threat is that you won’t be allowed because the sub-station will not cope.”

And he said that the problem with businesses being required to help with the cost of grid reinforcement is that many operate out of leased premises in which they do not have a long-term interest.

Rasita Chudasama, principal transport planner at Nottingham City Council, told the committee that the authority’s efforts to roll out 50 charging points at a park and ride site had received “underwhelming and inconsistent” support from its local DNO.