Technical Notes 2022, Issue 187 - Installation of Electric Vehicle Chargers at Private Properties

1. The purpose of this Technical Note is to advise Members of information on the Installation of Electric Vehicle Chargers at Private Properties which will be added to the Council’s website and be used in correspondence.
    
2. Following a rise in enquiries to Council officers regarding the installation of electric vehicle chargers at private properties, officers have considered the legislative, policy and maintenance issues relating to this issue and produced the information document appended to this technical note.
    
3. This information document will be added to the Electric vehicle charging points webpage for public information: 
    
4. It is noted that Council officers are continuing to work on the roll out of charging points across East Dunbartonshire and are participating in City Region work to progress plans and strategies to unlock further funding from the Scottish Government to continue to grow the availability of publicly available electric vehicle charging infrastructure - as set out in a recent Report PNCA/038/22/CM.
    
5. In partnership with Transport Scotland, the Council has installed a number of charge points across East Dunbartonshire in recent years. While the Council owns the infrastructure, the associated network is operated by ChargePlace Scotland (CPS). As the public network operator across Scotland, CPS, is responsible for coordinating repairs to the charge points on the public network - liaising with the relevant maintenance suppliers (put in place by the Council) responsible for the respective charge point.
   
   As such, the Council is not directly involved in the repairs of charge points but does continue to communicate with CPS on a regular basis to understand where the faults are and to highlight specific issues as and when officers become aware of them, mainly through regular correspondence from local residents and Elected Members.
    
6. The Council is notified by CPS when an issue has been raised at one of our sites and is also notified by the maintenance supplier that they are aware and have scheduled an engineer to attend. The Council is therefore aware of several current issues at charge points across East Dunbartonshire and is tracking progress of the repairs.

Read the further information below

Installation of Electric Vehicle Chargers at Private Properties

For petrol and diesel vehicles a network of privately operated petrol filling stations exists which cars and other vehicles are able to access.

Provision for electric vehicles is being provided through a similar network of charging stations.  In recent years, these have been provided both by the Council and private sector in a range of locations. The locations of existing charge points can be found, along with the Council’s current programme of work in the ‘Electric Vehicles in East Dunbartonshire’ booklet,on the Electric vehicle charging points webpage.  Going forward, the model for provision of electric vehicle charging infrastructure is changing, more information can be found on the Transport Scotland website.

Electric vehicles have the added benefit that they can be charged at home.  This is being provided for in new development via planning policy.  For existing housing, homeowners can consider the following:

• Installation of a charging point on their driveway/privately owned land.
• Joint installation on car parks related to flatted properties – this will likely require discussion and agreement with all combined owners (normally through a central factor).

The ‘Electric Vehicles in East Dunbartonshire’ booklet provides some information about grants which may be available to residents.

However, not all homeowners will be able to install a charger on their property, for a variety of reasons - including the constraints of the immediate road network - and will need to use charging locations away from their home. Therefore, purchasers of EVs who don't have off-street parking should base any decision to purchase an EV on availability and proximity to publicly and privately available charging locations as highlighted above.

It is also noted that, in the changes required to meet climate change targets, to improve health outcomes and air quality, the transport hierarchy prioritises walking, wheeling and cycling first, followed by public transport and lastly the private car.

Private On-street Charging

Installation of a permanent or removable charger on the public road or pavement is not permitted. Under the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984, Part V Roads and Building Control and VIII Interference and Damage, it is not permitted to place apparatus, including a cable or wire over, along or across a public road (which includes the footway) without the consent of the roads authority.  For clarity, East Dunbartonshire Council will not permit a cable crossing a footway for the purpose of charging a vehicle. The Council will not authorise (permit), adopt or maintain private charging points on publicly owned and adopted carriageways and footways.

The following considerations have informed the Council’s position.

Land ownership:

• Roads and footways are available to be accessed by all and cannot be reserved.
• Access to parking outside a property or in a particular location cannot be guaranteed.  Unless there are restrictions preventing parking, anyone can park on the public road and space cannot be reserved for an individual property.  

Utilities:

• Utilities (gas, electricity, water, telephone, broadband) are housed underneath pavements and installing a private EV charging cable across these would create an ongoing maintenance issue.

Health and Safety:

• Pavements must be clear for pedestrians and wheelchair users. 
• The Highway Code (Rule 239) says you should avoid creating a trip hazard for pedestrians from trailing cables when using charge points.
• The cable would be a safety risk for people with impaired vision or mobility issues and the owner would be held liable for any injury.