Charging electric vehicles at home could become easier

Government consultation will set out reforms to planning process, tenants’ rights and energy connections

Electric car owners will find it easier and cheaper to charge their vehicles at home under plans being developed by the government.

The changes to the planning process are designed to make it fairer for renters and those without a private driveway.

The plans would make it easier for renters and leaseholders to install electric vehicle (EV) chargers by mandating chargepoints in new covered car parks and consulting on removing planning permission currently needed for those without driveways to install discreet cross pavement charging gullies.

The government will consider cutting bureaucracy for EV drivers without driveways in order to make it easier to install cross pavement charging solutions and speeding up applications. It is suggested this could save households up to £250 in application fees.

The government said it will work with Ofgem to ensure public costs are fair and strengthen protections against landowners overcharging tenants for home charging above the market rate.

In addition, the government and Ofgem will work to ensure operators offer high quality connections as well as smooth and rapid connections for public charging, to ensure the network is resilient and supports the ongoing roll-out.

The government will shortly launch a consultation on the package, enabling industry to inform how the reforms can best be implemented.

Transport secretary Heidi Alexander said: “Wherever you park your car, we’re making it fairer, easier, and cheaper to make the switch to electric. These reforms will improve infrastructure for the EV revolution, increase chargepoints across the country and open up affordable home charging to thousands more households. It’s good news for drivers and a big boost for the growing British EV industry – cutting costs and supporting jobs to deliver our Plan for Change.”

The move follows a £25m scheme announced in July to support local authorities to provide discreet cross-pavement channel charging solutions for residents, so more people without a driveway can charge easily and cheaply at home. The government is also investing £381m to roll-out more than 100,000 local public chargers across England. There are now 86,021 chargers available across the UK. 

The government also launchedthe £650m Electric Car Grant (ECG) earlier this year, which is offering discounts of up to £3,750 off 39 car models.