Agenda item

Report to follow.

Officers introduced the report and gave a presentation on the developing Electric Vehicle (EV) Strategy 2026-2030. The Committee considered the direction of the Council’s strategy for EV charging 2026-2030 and discussed whether more work should be done to ensure on street charging and enquired with officers if more could be done to address the challenges outlined by officers for why the Council was not planning to support the introduction of on street EV charging. Officers confirmed that they were happy to continue to review new technology and regulations around on street EV charging but as it stood, they were of the opinion, that there were significant challenges and issue with their role out, including the risk of electrocution.

The Committee asked officers if they knew why Government grants had been granted to Council’s who had undertaken pilots of on street EV charging considering the electrocution risk. Officers confirmed that they were surprised to see trails of this nature and agreed with the Executive Member for Transport that they would contract the Department for Transport about these risks. Officers noted that different trails had been run across the country and the Council was well placed sharing information and learning from different trails, currently they confirmed that authorities had to take on the risks associated with trailing products and that these were not without issues.

The Committee raised concerns of an equity of access to charging in the city and highlighted the disparity in charging prices. The Committee noted that for those that could use charging from their driveway at around 7p per KWH compared to prices at hyper hubs of around 70 to 80p per KWH. Officers acknowledged that the cost difference was large for those using commercial charging compared to at home charging. Officers highlighted that the Council owned the public charging network and therefore were able to run at cost keeping prices below other private charging locations. The fact that the Council’s charging points were from a commercial energy tariff made it harder to bring cost down and that potential regulatory charges could assist with this from government. Officers also noted that gully charging in many areas came with installation and yearly maintenance costs which would add to the cost of gully charging.

Members enquired about how often the Council’s charging points were used and raised concerns that the lack of access to on street charging for those without driveways, were a barrier to people switching from Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) cars to EV. Officers confirmed that the network was supporting around 40,000 charging sessions annual but that these numbers varied across the type of charging sites with larger numbers attending hyper hubs. Regarding access Officers confirmed that a key proposal for the strategy was the continued rollout of standard charging points in the community that are easily accessible for residents across the city. Officers confirmed that more standard community charging it was confirmed would be joined by two new hyper hubs, as well as, working with a new energy supplier looking to bring the cost of charging down. They also confirmed that they would aim to remain open to new technologies which could change options for EV charging.

The Executive Member for Transport discussed with the Committee how the strategy would work alongside the Councils Transport Strategy, highlighting, the aim to prioritise, walking, wheeling, cycling, and public transport before encouraging car usage. The Committee suggested that choosing between types of car and types of transport were different and that residents were contacting Councillors regarding there need for on street charging. The Executive Member for Transport outlined that the strategy aimed to offer everyone access to charging points but that the Council didn’t wish to prioritise encouraging all households to switch form individual ICE to EV ownership and instead promote different forms of travel, such as, walking, cycling, public transport, or things such as car sharing. She highlighted that the city would still have congestion issues unless the Council meet its target of reducing car journeys in the city. Officers confirmed that the charging strategy aimed to deliver enough charging provision across the city that there would not be an increase in milage from individuals traveling to charging points.

Resolved:

                         i.         To recommend that the Executive Member for Transport write to the Department for Transport to recommend that the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles takes greater control of trails and studies for EV charging across the UK;

                        ii.         To recommend that the Executive Member for Transport write to the Department for Transport to seek clarification for why the Government were providing grant funding for some on street charging schemes in light of the risk of electrocution;

                      iii.         To recommend that the strategy include a midpoint review and that on street EV charging be explored in any review of the strategy;

                      iv.         To recommend that officers review the wording used in the developing strategy around whether the Council is not wishing to embed car usage;

                       v.         To recommend that the strategy include carbon emissions data from car travel in the city and the impact from switching from ICE to EV vehicles;

                      vi.         To recommend that the strategy focus on ensuring equitable access to EV charging across the city.

Reason:     To feed into the development of the 2026-2030 Electric Vehicle Strategy for York.