A report providing an overview of the work undertaken to prepare a draft Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Strategy for Reading, and to seek approval to undertake a public consultation on the draft strategy as part of the proposed statutory consultation on the new Local Transport Plan (see Item 7 above).

The Executive Director of Economic Growth and Neighbourhood Services submitted a report providing the Committee with an overview of the work that had been carried out to prepare a draft Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Strategy for Reading and sought approval to carry out a public consultation on the draft Strategy as part of the proposed statutory consultation on the new LTP.  A copy of the draft Strategy was attached to the report at Appendix 1.

The report explained that the Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Strategy would become a sub-strategy to the LTP, with the aim of accelerating the transition to electric vehicles for necessary travel in the Borough.  The Strategy set out the current position of electric vehicle take-up in Reading as well as settling the future pathway to support increased uptake of electric vehicles for residents, visitors and local businesses and included reference to the charging infrastructure needs of all electric vehicles, including electric buses, car clubs, e-bikes and e-scooters.  The key elements of the draft Strategy were set out in the report.

Officers had engaged with suppliers of electric vehicle change point infrastructure to ensure the Strategy was based on the latest available information and took into account the latest projections for electric vehicle update and for the different types of charging infrastructure to ensure that a lack of charge points was not a barrier to the future take-up of electric vehicles.  The Strategy had acknowledged the role the Council had in providing local leadership in this area and highlighted the key areas that were outside the Council’s control.  External funding had been secured to implement a range of charging points and it had been considered that the future provision of charge points for residents living in streets without off-street parking was a particularly important role for the Council moving forward.  Therefore, further installation of charge points in streets without off-street parking had been included as key action in the Strategy.

The report stated that the Council was committed to ensuring its in-house vehicle fleet was fully electric by 2030 and officers were working with colleagues from the other Berkshire authorities to identify how delivery of charge points could be coordinated across the county.  The report also noted that whilst there was currently no statutory guidance for local authorities for the development of electric vehicle strategies it was envisaged that further direction would be included within the Department for Transport’s (DfT) new guidance for local authorities on the development of LTPs.  Engagement on the development of the Strategy had been carried out with the Energy Savings Trust and feedback had been incorporated in the latest version of the Strategy.

The Committee discussed the report and a number of points were raised including the following:

·         The capacity of electricity suppliers both locally and nationally was an issue and they needed to be asked how they would manage the increase in demand that was, and would, result from the increased use of electric vehicles;

·         The increased weight of electric vehicles would have an impact on the road infrastructure and the road infrastructure might have to change as a result;

·         EV charging points needed to be spread more evenly across the Borough;

·         The aim was to increase the number of on-street charging points and the challenge was to keep pace with the uptake of electric vehicles;

·         A balance had to be achieved between people being able to park on street and in parking bays and providing access to charging points, however more charging points would be installed in shared parking bays;

·         With regard to e-scooters the government had provided an opportunity for local authorities to take part in a trial and although Reading had not done so, Slough had, and lessons would be learned from their experience and the experience of other authorities in the trial;

·         As battery life increased it was more likely that people would charge their vehicles at home;

·         Rapid chargers were being provided by the private sector and work was taking place across west Berkshire to identify gaps in the provision of charging points.

Resolved –

(1)        That the work which had been undertaken to prepare the draft Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Strategy for Reading be noted;

(2)        That approval to undertake a public consultation on the draft Strategy, alongside the proposed statutory consultation on the new Local Transport Plan be granted.