City Science was commissioned by North East Lincolnshire Council to create an electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure strategy. The goal was to provide a vision for delivering EV chargepoints to meet near-term demand by 2025 and anticipate longer-term needs up to 2030, when the UK plans to phase out petrol and diesel powered cars and light goods vehicles. This strategy focused on identifying optimal locations, forecasting future demand, and ensuring that infrastructure meets the needs of a wide range of users, including residents, visitors, and commercial fleets.
Scope
The geographical scope of the strategy focused on the North East Lincolnshire Council area. The strategy aimed to provide a comprehensive framework for EV infrastructure development, with six key objectives:
- Provide an outward facing, accessible EV Infrastructure Strategy.
- Develop a central strategic vision for EV infrastructure roll-out from 2023-2025 and 2030.
- Provide the range, location and timescales for EV roll-out.
- Identify funding and delivery mechanisms for EV infrastructure.
- Maximise use of council assets to support EV infrastructure delivery.
- Develop short term actions and commitments.
City Science Response
Strategy Principles: Through collaboration with the Council, we identified four core principles which ensured that the EV Charging Strategy aligned with and supported the Council’s broader vision and goals. These included Mode Shift, Accessibility, Inclusion and Future Proofing.
Baseline Report: The Baseline Report provided a foundation for strategy development through the following elements:
- Policy & Strategy Review: A comprehensive review of policies at national, regional, and local levels was conducted to ensure alignment with existing frameworks. Key findings highlighted strong policy support for EV adoption and infrastructure development.
- Existing Chargepoint Provision Analysis: An in-depth analysis of current EV chargepoints was undertaken using data from ZapMap and chargepoint operators (CPOs) such as Pod Point and BP Pulse. This revealed that there were 39 publicly available chargepoints in the borough, 75% of them standard chargepoint speeds.
- Broader Context: Demographic and housing data revealed that approximately 50% of the population in North East Lincolnshire lacked access to off-street parking, underscoring the critical need for on-street public charging solutions.
Data Analysis & Forecasting Report: Demand forecasting was conducted using the Transport for the North EV Charging Infrastructure Visualiser Tool. The forecasts demonstrated a significant need to focus on the roll-out of publicly accessible chargepoints, particularly standard on-street charging solutions near homes. To meet projected demand, a nearly ten-fold increase from present delivery to 2025, and a more than 20-fold increase from present delivery to 2030 is required.
Infrastructure Delivery Report: To support successful chargepoint delivery, we engaged with key stakeholders to identify potential private sector delivery models, funding opportunities and key delivery challenges and opportunities. This included 7 x 1-1’s with CPOs, fleet operators, resident associations and the district network operator. Additionally, major and strategic road networks with high vehicular flow were mapped to highlight suitable locations for rapid chargepoints.
- We outlined nationally available government funding opportunities and private sector delivery models.
- Building on the Baseline Report, we explored key opportunities for chargepoint delivery on Council-owned land. Key themes included one-street parking, Council-owned car parks and new development sites.
- We explored seven key principles to support the Council with identifying areas for rapid chargepoint infrastructure.
- We identified broader considerations including increased demands on local energy networks.
Grid Capacity Analysis: We also explored the impact that the forecast uptake in EVs in North East Lincolnshire might have on the electricity grid to predict which primary substations in the area might need upgrading. The analysis highlighted that North East Lincolnshire is well placed to deal with the extra electricity demand driven by increases in EVs, when compared to other local authorities. This was, in part, due to quite conservative historic system design by the DNO. The 2025 forecast showed that none of the local primary substations would exceed their capacity, while in 2030 three of the sixteen primaries would require upgrading.
Outcome
Informed by the results of the data analysis and stakeholder engagement process, we developed 11 key recommendations that supported the delivery of EV chargepoints across North East Lincolnshire. These included suggestions on delivery opportunities on council-owned assets, providing a good spatial spread of chargepoints to support equity, and specific chargepoint delivery targets to ensure that the area is prepared for the transition to EVs. In addition to the final strategy, we also developed a short, accessible summary report that was used to support public engagement.