Durham County Council: Scaling on Street charging infrastructure (SOSCI) project

We had 100 Electric Vehicle charge points (EVCPs) to install, with funding. The challenge was where to put the EVCPs. With 126 parish councils in Durham, we couldn't give each parish council their own charge point, and the size of each parish council is different so some would require more than one charger. EVCPs needed to be on local authority owned land, and the cost of the DNO (electric), and the lack of capacity were also challenging. We needed to think of where the residents felt safe and secure to use them overnight. They needed to be near residential housing and accessible for all to use. They needed to be convenient, reliable, safe and secure.

DCC set up an Electric Vehicle (EV) working group internally, and an EV community working group. By doing this we could listen to residents and learn where they wanted the EVCPs, which helped us to best place them. We used an auto design tool from Northern Powergrid to plot lots of sites. We held a mock accessible EVCP event and invited users to give us feedback. We applied for additional funding for more EVCPs so that we could install them within 5-minutes walking distance from residents’ housing, including in rural areas. We worked with a local car club to set up a charge point for the EV to use as part of the club, enabling residents who can’t afford a car to have that option.

From the SOSCI project we installed 70 fast chargers (7-22KwH speed), 5 rapid chargers (50 KwH) and 2 semi-rapids (25-50 KwH). Since the project began DCC has been credited as a local authority that has taken a big step forward in building the infrastructure for EV charging - which has allowed us to better support rural areas in our community. The EVCPs have reduced CO2 by 9,467.3KG.

Following on from SOSCI project, DCC applied for further funding and continue to strive to build our EV infrastructure. We have installed 9 EVCPs on Weardale Electric Vehicle Accelerator project, andwe are currently installing 50 EVCPs on Durham Other Charge point project. We completed a research project from our lessons learnt from SOSCI and provided a briefing pack on best practice for installing EVCPs to all local authorities. There are further bids in with funders on the current LEVI (local electric vehicle infrastructure) pilot scheme. The temporary member of staff appointed to lead the SOSCI project is now a permanent member of staff and two further officers will be appointed very soon to make an EV specialist team within the council.

Communication is a key factor, internally and externally.

Make sure there are other options should one site fail for various reasons. Research the areas and gather as much information as possible. In particular, DCC found that it’s important to understand the electricity and grid connection process by collaborating with the local Distribution Network Operator. In DCC’s case the local DNO is Northern Powergrid, who were open to the project and dedicated time to address their concerns. Northern Powergrid also provide an AutoDesign tool, which allows users to estimate the cost of connecting to the grid at different sites.

DCC found that it was important to future proof the site, and think about what each site’s requirements are and what would suit best.

DCC have also produced a ‘Best Practice Guide for Local Authorities when installing EV Charge points’ that they are happy to share with others who are interested in hearing more about the lessons learned and consequent recommendations DCC have formed. To access the guide, get in touch with Tracy at [email protected]

Tracy Millmore: [email protected]