The New Regulations
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On 22 November 2021, the Department of Transport published the Government's response to the July 2019 consultation on the installation of EV charge points in new buildings and buildings undergoing major renovations. In a previous article, we discussed the Government's plans to transpose the requirements of the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) through the Building Regulations 2010. In its response, the Government confirmed the content of these regulations and stated its intention to lay the implementing regulations in Parliament in 2021.
According to the BBC, Britain currently has around 25,000 charging points: The Competition and Markets Authority have asserted that it could need ten times as many before 2030. The Government's response confirmed that the new regulations will see 145,000 extra charge points installed across England each year.
The Government confirmed, as previously proposed, that the regulations will require:
- New residential buildings with an associated car parking space to have an EV charge point.
- Residential buildings undergoing major renovation, that will have over 10 parking spaces, to have at least one charge point for each dwelling with associated parking and cable routes in all spaces without charge points.
- New non-residential buildings and non-residential buildings undergoing a major renovation with over 10 car parking spaces to have at least one charge point and cable routes for every one-in-five spaces.
What Changes Have Resulted from the Consultation?
The only change to the previous proposals is that following the consultation, the legislation will no longer require one charge point to be installed in all existing non-residential properties with more than 20 parking spaces.
Is the Government Doing Enough?
The regulations have been criticised for failing to address the disparity in the number of public charge points in London and the South East by comparison to the rest of England and Wales. The Policy Exchange think tank warned of the risks of charging blackspots in small towns and rural areas unless the installation of charging infrastructure in these areas speeds up.
Additionally, greater increase in public charging provision has been called for: According to the National Grid, approximately 40% of UK drivers have no access to off-street parking. Steps are however being taken privately to increase this provision.
Private Provision
On 6 December 2021, the UK's first EV charging only forecourt was opened by GRIDSERVE, enabling 36 electric vehicles to be charged simultaneously, with 20 minutes of charging adding 200 miles of range. The energy will initially cost 30p per kWh (including VAT) meaning a typical charge from 20% to 80% costs under £10 for an average-size electric vehicle. More charging forecourts are proposed throughout the county with Shell announcing last week its plans to replace an entirely traditional fuels site with an EV charging forecourt in Fulham.
Whilst the regulations are widely welcomed, it is vital that the Government continues to legislate in this area to ensure that the UK's charging infrastructure is able to support, and enable, their commitment to end the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030.
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