Electric Car Chargers
Project Objective
The Government has set a timescale for the ending of sales of petrol and diesel cars from 2030 with drivers being encouraged to migrate to electric cars when possible.
Upon consultation with the village it was found there are a lot of houses in and around Bellingham, particulartly in the older estates such as Westlands, Cairns Road, Fairshaw Crescent and Hillside where residents do not have access to of street parking where they can install their own charging solution. Issues with convenient charging was seen as a blocker for many to EV adoption. This, as well as the ever increasing number of visitors to the area who drive EVs and expect to be able to charge when visting showed a gap in available facilities, as evidenced by increasing numbers of queries about charging facilities to the Parish Council.
Previously there was a single 7KW charge socket provided by the National Park located in the Hareshaw Linn car park. A second charger located at Bellingham Garage Services was removed some years ago, The charger at Hareshaw Linn was frequestly blocked off by "ICE" drivers who parked in front of the charger rendering it useless. Even when available, a single socket did not provide the capacity needed for the village.
The Solution
The Parish Council decided to look into options to install additonal chargers in key locations around the village.
We initially looked at the following possible locations -
- Manchester Square - behind Bellingham Town Hall
- Station Yard - adj Heritage Centre & Carriages Tearoom
- Jubilee Field Car Park
Of these options only the Town Hall had a sufficient electrical supply, having 2-phases with 7KW available on each.
Several charging operators were scoped out including InstaVolt, Elmtronics and Pod-Point. Of these Pod-Point best met our requirements for value for money as well as flexibility of payment options to off-set the electricity charges for the Town Hall. Pod-Point offered several solutions but in the end we opted for two single wall mounted units that could each run at a full 7KW which adds around 30 miles per hour range on an average EV. These were spaced along the rear wall of the Town Hall to give as much flexibility for parking as possible as we were unable to mark the bays out as EV Charging Only.
The chargers are monitored and administered via on online web portal from which tariff rates can be set.
Costs
Pod-Point Supplied Equipment
2x Solo Chargers
2x Wall Mounted Instruction Signs
3 Year Management Information System Access
Delivery
£1870.00
ParkEnd Electrical
Installation & upgrade of Town Hall electrical system
£1622.00
At point of writing this we charge £1.50 per hour connected which is around the cost of a standard rate domestic electricity tariff for a 7.2KW vehicle. This is charged to the users on a pay as you go basis via Pod-Point's app. Pod-Point reimburses the Parish Council every six months and this is passed to the Town Hall to cover their electricity costs. This charge could increase as electricity prices change.
Reception
Feedback on the new charging facility has been extremely positive with the chargers being used multiple times each day. (Usage data seen in MiS).
More and more electric cars and vans are being seen around the village from visitors, local residents and local businesses which is fantastic to see.
We have been a role model for other Parish Councils around the country who have contacted us asking how they can do the same thing.
