Promoting electric vehicle use

Norfolk County Council is promoting electric vehicle (EV) use as part of our Travel Norfolk initiative and Electric Vehicle Strategy.

EVs are an alternative to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. It's planned that ICE vehicles will no longer be on sale as new by 2030.

Current government plans call for the country to be Net Zero by 2050. The aim is to reduce carbon emissions, such as those from vehicle exhausts, to as close to zero as possible.

As a result, EV sales have seen a dramatic increase over recent years. According to the car buying website Heycar, owners registered 190,727 new EVs in 2021 alone. That's 11.6% of all new car sales that year. 

We're working with city, district and borough councils, plus parishes and businesses, to provide improved EV charging infrastructure. This is both on-street and in locations such as village halls and community centres.

Our aim is to ensure all EV users have access to suitable charging infrastructure. This will remove barriers for prospective EV owners and increase the number of EVs in use.

EVs fall into two main sub-types: battery electric and hybrid.

Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs)

These are EVs which rely only on battery power. They use electricity from the grid instead of petrol-based fuels from pumps like an ICE car.

Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs)

These are vehicles which usually use a combustion engine with an electric propulsion system. You charge the battery by using the combustion engine. This means the electric propulsion range can be quite limited.

Mild hybrids are a further sub-type. These use electric power to supplement the combustion engine but do not have an electric-only mode.

Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) are another HEV sub-type. They use a combination of combustion engine and battery power. You can charge the battery by plugging into a charger like a BEV. These vehicles have a greater electric range than standard HEVs, but a lower one than BEVs.

We focus our Electric Vehicle Strategy on BEVs and PHEVs. This is because they use plug-in electricity to power their electric propulsion systems.

The sources of this electricity are more and more becoming greener ones, such as wind and solar power. So as the grid begins to rely less on the burning of fossil fuels to generate power, it will make them cleaner than other types of EV.

This is why it's important to us to provide suitable charging points across the authority. In line with national policy, we're looking to promote cleaner, more environmentally-friendly modes of transport. This is in keeping with our Zero Emission Transport City proposals.

EV chargers

You can charge EVs at home or in public. At home, you can charge some EVs using a standard plug connection. Others may need a device such as a wall-mounted charger.

There are specialist companies who install these, but unfortunately we cannot offer advice on home-based charging.

Public EV chargepoints are an area we are trying to improve countywide. We have an upcoming on-street chargepoint pilot scheme in Norwich. We're also working with other local authorities such as parishes and districts. This is to roll out better charging facilities in rural areas.

The main chargers found in the public realm are 'fast' and 'rapid'.

Fast chargers

This is the 7-22kW range, which will charge most vehicles. Depending on the vehicle's battery capacity and charger type, most vehicles will be fully charged in 3-8 hours.

For this reason we aim to install these in long-stay areas. For example, Park & Ride sites, or residential streets where people can leave their car overnight to charge. It's considered that anything less than 7kW is 'slow' or 'trickle' charging.

Rapid chargers

These are usually 43kW and over. Some 'ultra-rapid' facilities also exist. Some rapid facilities can fully charge a car in an hour, depending on the wattage and car's battery capacity.

But not all EVs can accept a rapid charge. Many will charge at 11kW and will so use 'fast' chargers instead.

While 'rapid' charging sounds more ideal, these chargers usually cost more to use. They're not suitable for every vehicle and problems with capacity on the electricity network can make their installation difficult.

Additionally, 'fast' chargers in the 7kW range use about the same amount of power as an electric shower. This means it can be possible to take a supply to them from an existing building like a community centre or village hall. That can help to reduce initial costs.

There are many good reasons to look to an electric vehicle (EV) as your next car, if you haven't already got one.

Financial benefits

As with all new cars, EVs can be expensive to buy outright. But given the recent increases in petrol and diesel prices, they can be less expensive to run than combustion engine cars, not only through cheaper fuel costs but also lower maintenance and tax costs.

Many public chargepoints operate at around 35p and 60p per kWh per kW, and many EVs average 25-30kWh per 100 miles. So about £10 of charging at one of the least expensive chargepoints or £18 at a more expensive one would provide about 100 miles of driving in such an EV.

If you can charge at home however, prices may be even more favourable. Also, if your car is a BEV, which is a fully electric vehicle, you won't have to pay Vehicle Excise Duty until at least 2025.

Environmental benefits

While EVs charge using the power grid, they do not emit harmful exhaust fumes in the same manner as combustion engine vehicles.

Even hydrogen-fuelled vehicles are not currently classed as zero-emission - only BEVs are. As the grid starts to use more renewable means of generating energy, EVs will become greener.

We're looking at the feasibility of using modular solar carports for charging EVs at some suitable locations.

Benefits to society

As a society we are shifting towards greener ways of living and travelling. You may have seen more cars on the road with green tags at the ends of their number plates, which some EVs have.

EVs are becoming increasingly popular and after 2030, sales of ICE cars are due to end in the UK.

Benefits for businesses

For businesses, the switch to EV is well worth considering. EV fleet and company car schemes are becoming more popular and Norfolk County Council is no exception.

We have our own EV pool cars for staff use and are looking to have battery-electric fleet vehicles as part of our EV Strategy.

The lower the emissions from a vehicle, the greater the tax benefit attached to it. So choosing an electric car as a company or fleet vehicle is financially sound reasoning.

According to Saffery Champness, there are various capital allowances businesses can enjoy by buying an EV.

The government's Plug-In Car Grant provides a discount of up to:

• £2,500 on EVs up to £35,000 in value
• £3,000 for small vans
• £6,000 for large vans

You can also have chargepoints installed at your business premises. If you have favourable energy rates, this can help keep charging costs down. Find out more about workplace charging grants from GOV.UK

We're part of a working group for the improvement of EV facilities across Norfolk.

We're working with all the borough and district councils. Some of them have developed their own EV strategies. For further information about these you can go to their websites:

• Breckland District Council
• North Norfolk District Council
• South Norfolk and Broadland Councils
• Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk
• Norwich City Council

We're also working with parishes on an on-request basis. This is to help find EV solutions for communities.

Our first involvement in a parish installation was at Dickleburgh. Read the news release about this installation.

We're continuing to work with parishes and communities and will post more updates as we complete the schemes.

We are also progressing EV chargepoint installations at our city Park & Ride facilities. In August 2022 we completed and commissioned installations at our Harford and Airport sites.

This was through a competitive tender won by Anglian Car Charging. We're looking at rolling out further chargepoints across our other Park & Ride sites.

We're working with district, borough and parish councils, plus Norwich City Council. We all want to make Norfolk a place where EV users have all the infrastructure they need.

We're looking at less common approaches to boost Norfolk's EV charging capabilities. We're also looking to create better provision in Norfolk in the following ways:

• Using a coordinated approach to new EV charging installations. We're ensuring that all local authorities are aware of each other's proposals and works in progress. This is through our local EV Working Group. It includes working to compliment existing or proposed initiatives, such as the Broads Authority's Electrify The Broads.
• Working with districts and parishes to determine local EV charging demand. We're exploring whether we can assist installations with funding or technical guidance.
• Exploring new funding and partnering opportunities from central government and the private sector. We're also working with chargepoint installers to find alternative models to those needing up-front funding.
• Launching our new Norwich On-Street EV Pilot scheme. This will roll our more on-street chargepoints in partnership with UK Power Networks. We expect this to go live by the end of 2022.
• Looking at areas not usually covered by typical government EV grants. For example, rural destination charging and EV provision in tourist areas. This will bolster one of Norfolk's most important employment sectors.
• Installing EV chargers at Norwich's Park & Ride sites. This will allow EV users to charge while making use of public transport.
• Providing maps showing all Norfolk's EV chargers, particularly those run and owned by public bodies. This is due to come soon.
• Providing a temporary option for EV users who want to charge at home but do not have dedicated parking or a nearby chargepoint. This is in the form of our EV Cable Permit Application.
• Providing innovations in EV charging. This includes contactless payment as standard and back-to-back car and boat charging at sites on the Norfolk Broads. We're also exploring the possibility of using solar or other renewable power to keep EV charging cheaper and clean.

Where to get more information

If you have a question about EV charging in Norfolk, or want to suggest a charging point location, email evehicles@norfolk.gov.uk