Pavement channels for charging cables

[wandle MG4 trophy]

Wandsworth Council is beginning a scheme to make it easier and cheaper to run charging cables in channels across pavements. There will be a £100 non refundable application fee. If agreed the installation will cost £250 and there will be a renewable licence fee of £150 for three years.

New grants to make electric vehicle charging more affordable - Wandsworth Borough Council

www.wandsworth.gov.uk

 

[5teep]

Seems like a pretty good deal for those who can get it. The £100 is to pay for a site survey I expect and then £250 is a great price for installation, the £1000 grant helping a lot there.

 

[Roldorf]

Wow 800 pounds to run a cable, then the cost of electricity on top. I don't think I spend that much on public charging.

 

[Alb]

Charging a licence fee is outrageous.

 

[Bam Bam]

Charging a licence fee is outrageous.

Is it because they will continue to 'maintain' it as long as you pay?

Also - if you don't pay the license fee do they fill it in so you/future residents can't use it any more? That would be crazy.

 

[siteguru]

Maybe the licence fee gives you the right to park at that spot, to make use of the channel?

 

[OriginalBigAl]

Or, more importantly, would you be able to stop others parking there? In effect turning a piece of public road into a private parking spot. I see the theft of "no parking" traffic cones on the rise.

 

[Gadget Geek]

It looks like some enterprising oik at Wandsworth Council has seen a way to generate a bit of extra income from residents.

 

[Rolfe]

At least people are going to get the opportunity. In many streets there's a mutual agreement that everyone gets to park outside their own house and the system should work well in these places.

 

[JohnV6]

Outside my son's flat in Walthamstow is a Shell charging point on a lampost. It is always blocked by ice cars

 

[Rolfe]

Is there any signage telling ICE drivers they shouldn't do that?

 

[EvTek23]

A great idea for those without off street parking, and I've seen them at Everything Electric, but as always once an authority gets involved there is red tape and hoops to jump through for the survey, installation and use of the gulley.
The licence is because it's installed by the council or a third party, and owned by the council. It doesn't look like there is any entitlement to park outside your own property to use the gulley if you have one installed.
It's just the gulley, you have to provide your own EVSE, as I guess you'd have to deploy the cable into the gulley each time it's used.
Also the EVSE must be a properly installed one with PEN protection, not one fed from a 13A socket.
It's all about liability for the authority, as it's running across a public access.

 

[wandle MG4 trophy]

Picking up on some of the points above :

No the fee will not give you the right to park in front of your house. And in London there’s no neighbourly agreement to only park in front of your house - it’s a free for all. I can foresee a lot of anxious curtain twitching if the spot is full - is it worth running out to move your car when the space becomes free and run the risk of someone else getting there first?

You will still need to pay for a residential parking permit at over £200 pa.

There are quite a few lamp post chargers in Wandsworth and anyone can park next to them - they are not reserved for EVs. They are more likely to be available for charging at weekends when many people travel.

I haven’t read the small print but if Granny charging is not allowed, I wonder how many will shell out another £800-£1200 for a 7kwh wall charger given they won’t have a guaranteed parking/charging spot.

Interesting question about what happens if you stop paying the licence fee or even if you sell the house and the new buyer has an EV. How will it be policed?

Overall I think it is a welcome step in the right direction. Hopefully it would work better in other parts of the country where street parking is not so competitive.

 

[Gadget Geek]

Something like this would probably be a better option, although the council wouldn't be able to claim their pound of flesh.

 

[salty]

Picking up on some of the points above :

No the fee will not give you the right to park in front of your house. And in London there’s no neighbourly agreement to only park in front of your house - it’s a free for all. I can foresee a lot of anxious curtain twitching if the spot is full - is it worth running out to move your car when the space becomes free and run the risk of someone else getting there first?

You will still need to pay for a residential parking permit at over £200 pa.

There are quite a few lamp post chargers in Wandsworth and anyone can park next to them - they are not reserved for EVs. They are more likely to be available for charging at weekends when many people travel.

I haven’t read the small print but if Granny charging is not allowed, I wonder how many will shell out another £800-£1200 for a 7kwh wall charger given they won’t have a guaranteed parking/charging spot.

Interesting question about what happens if you stop paying the licence fee or even if you sell the house and the new buyer has an EV. How will it be policed?

Overall I think it is a welcome step in the right direction. Hopefully it would work better in other parts of the country where street parking is not so competitive.

In theory it's a good idea. Just not very well thought out.

 

[OriginalBigAl]

When I lived in Bury I had one of the many terraced houses around 6m in width like many of its kind. There were a few elderly neighbours who did not have a car and some families with children of early second school age. Parking was relatively simple. As the children went through school and college and proceeded to work they then wanted their own transport so some families became two, three, car owners. The elderly were replaced by new families and parking then became more difficult outside your own house even though everyone informally tried to respect that system. The council then wanted to restructure the roads because it was a bus route and the parking which used to have gaps was now nose to tail on both sides effectively making the the road a queue and wait for passage thoroughfare. Add on new pinch points and speed cushions to make crossing the road easier, and parking was a hit and miss affair as to whether you could find any place near your home. An EV would almost be an impossible choice if you wished to have a home charger. I left before it became intolerable but as far as I know all the housing stock of that Victorian era still exists and the roads are still the same. At a rough guess I would say that 25% of the population just through their housing situation (apartments, flats, terraced, rented?) would have extreme difficulty justifying an EV no matter what their other prejudices, even with the advent of stop-gap solutions.

 

[Bam Bam]

I guess the thinking is that the resident should pay something towards it because they get the benefit, and spending scarce council resources on EV owners isn't a priority

That use of public funds is the issue, even if increasing EV ownership in general is an important priority to improve air quality.