Written evidence from Midlands Connect (ELV0085) 

15 September 2023

Re: Electric vehicle inquiries

To whom it may concern,

Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the ongoing Electric Vehicle inquiries.

Midlands Connect is the Sub-national Transport Body (STB) for the Midlands region. Established in 2014 our voluntary partnership stretches from Lincolnshire in the East to Shropshire in the West. As such, we have a clear mandate from government to plan for and advise on the strategic connectivity needs of the people living, working in and visiting the Midlands. This region is home to almost 11 million people and over 840,000 businesses and 5.3m jobs (2017).

Our response to this inquiry reflects the work that we have undertaken both to understand the EV infrastructure requirements for the Midlands region and our ongoing work as part of the LEVI fund (Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure) with local transport authority teams to support our partnership to deliver an infrastructure that works for all. This response therefore provides an overview of the experience and evidence which the committee may wish to draw upon. We have focused on two particular areas of interest: government strategy and policy and local, regional and national infrastructure.

Our experience

I have included a copy of the Supercharging the Midlands report which sets out our baseline evidence for the infrastructure that will be needed across the Midlands region and the speed at which it must be delivered. This 2021 report forecasts:

-          that by 2030 1 in 4 registered vehicles could be electric;

-          there was 1 public charge point per 19 vehicles in the Midlands;

-          there were 2,716 publicly accessible charge points in the Midlands;

-          but that we would need to install almost 4,000 charge points per year between 2021 and 2030 to meet growing demand.

These figures are now out of date (an updated will be released later this year) but does begin to illustrate the size of the challenge that needs to be addressed. We will be releasing an updated version of the Supercharging report later this year and our expectation is that these figures will be increased significantly. Whilst we know from Zapmap data that between August 2022 and 2023 there was a 42% increase in charging locations this only brings the total nationally to 48,450[1] and we still have a way to go to deliver a public charging infrastructure that works for all.

Whilst certain parts of the EV infrastructure will be delivered through commercial development, our initial engagement in this area highlighted the importance of local authorities to develop an infrastructure that is accessible by all, regardless of where they live. As a result, we have developed a LEVI partnership that draws together thirteen Midlands councils and has just received over £39 million to boost infrastructure development[2]. During the lifetime of the project the aim will be to:

-          address the capacity and capability of local authorities in this area,

-          engage with commercial partners (both charge point (CPO) and distribution network operators (DNO)) to identify how to deliver the best business case,

-          build regional partnerships to deliver economies of scale and collective buying power for delivery of charge points, legal and procurement activities.

One of the fundamental challenges that the partnership seeks to address is the nascent nature of certain parts of the EV market whilst ownership and therefore the commercial viability of sites grows. This is particularly so in areas where on-street parking will be required and in less urban areas where populations are less dense. We know that the availability of charge points is a key factor in the decision-making process for those looking to purchase a new car and therefore there is a chicken and egg stage at the moment where infrastructure is required to deliver public confidence but commercial providers are reluctant to invest because of current usage levels.

By working at scale directly with CPO’s and offering long-term commercial and non-commercial sites our LEVI partnership aims to address this challenge.

Inquiry areas of interest

Government approach to achieving the 2030 and 2035 phase-out dates strategy and policy

Midlands Connect considers that the LEVI strategy is crucial to the delivery of the phase-out dates the LEVI strategy which has two main objectives: to deliver a step-change in the deployment of local (and primarily low power) on-street charging infrastructure across England, and to accelerate the commercialisation of, and investment in, the local charging structure. As we progress with this work there are a number of areas that we consider need to be addressed by government and other stakeholders. These include:

-          Long-term local authority resources to deliver specialist EV contracts beyond the funding which is currently available.

-          Creating a business model that delivery longer term infrastructure sustainability.

-          Common charge point standards and payment mechanisms.

Local authority capacity. We know that local authority transport teams struggle with both the knowledge and capacity to deliver an EV infrastructure, particularly as this is a complex and changing area. As well as the resources generated through the LEVI partnership the strategy implementation is moving towards the creation of new roles within local authorities which will be funded for two years through an £81mn funding pot. Whilst this is an extremely positive step it is vital that government considers how this role will be maintained as local authorities are unlikely to be able to fill this role and there will still be substantial amounts of work to do to deliver and maintain EV contracts.

Building a commercial model that works and delivers equitable access to a charging infrastructure. Our Supercharging report highlighted that whilst in 2021 93% of EV owners had access to off-street parking (and therefore the opportunity to install personal charge points), 32% of households in the Midlands Connect region are reliant on on-street parking and will therefore need access to public charging as the EV transition continues.

One of the most prominent challenges to delivering a public charging infrastructure is the commercial case, particularly in rural areas (who are more likely to rely on cars due to lack of public transport alternatives) where the number of people using chargers are unlikely to initially attract commercial providers. Our LEVI work will begin to address this challenge, but government will need to consider how they should support this going forward.

Common charging standards. Again, we know that a barrier to purchasing an EV can be confusion over differing charge point requirements. Whilst some regulations have been brought in there is still a need to simplify this area in order to deliver public confidence. 

Looking beyond the immediate delivery strategy there are a number of areas which need closer attention:

-          Certainty of targets. In recent months there have been questions around the EV phase-out targets in the media and while the commitment to phase-out appears to remain, the deadlines for this have some uncertainty around them. We would urge government to keep the existing targets because changing them raises the danger of a reduced focus and variation in delivery between different areas.

The LEVI forecasting has indicated that potentially 95,000 charge points need to be delivered more than doubling our highest forecast of 45,000 by 2030. To deliver this number it is vital that we keep these targets in place and therefore the momentum behind all those who central to delivery.

-          Economic policy. It is generally recognised that transitioning to net zero has the potential to support the UK economy, and this applies equally to electric vehicles. There is currently one gigafactory in Sunderland (for Nissan) and plans for a second in Somerset (Tata / Landrover due for 2026). However, there is significant concern that the UK is falling behind both Europe and the US in production of EV batteries leading to concerns that this could have a detrimental impact on the car industry, our ability to deliver a sustainable industry and therefore consequential impacts on jobs.

Alongside battery production there are other opportunities such as the battery waste industry which will help to deliver a sustainable and circular economy; however, these will become redundant without battery production.

National and regional infrastructure and charging issues

There are a range of issues to be address here:

Understanding of future grid capacity requirements. There appears to be a general concern across transport planning and industry about the lack of understanding about future grid requirements to meet the needs of an EV fleet (alongside the needs of other sectors). This is an area which needs to be addressed to ensure that the ongoing work to plan for future infrastructure will not be undermined through lack of grid capacity.

Engaging with DNOs. In the Midlands our engagement with DNOs has highlighted challenges with progressing DNO applications in order to install the infrastructure. This ranges from the cost to retrieve initial information about grid capacity and to submit the initial application through to changing costs at final approval (which have subsequent impacts on the viability of business cases), to being informed that connections will not be available either due to grid capacity or (lack of) infrastructure development. These are a barrier to delivery now, and the challenge will only increase as we begin to ramp up installation.

Length of time to deliver public infrastructure. Midland Connect began working in this area in 2020 undertaking baseline research, partnership development and more to take the work forward. We are now at the stage of moving forward with contract work and formalising the regional partnership. Whilst we are working at scale the development time for this should not be underestimated.

Final comments

In this response we have focused upon the development of an EV infrastructure, and as we have set out in this response it is vital that we maintain the effort and pressure to deliver this. There will always be people who need to use cars whether because of a particular journey, where they live or the job that they do. However, it is important that the development of EV infrastructure is seen as one tool to deliver net zero and not the only tool. One of the key messages that we have highlighted in recent responses to National Highways regarding the management of our strategic road network is the importance of understanding the levels of car journeys that both the road network and net zero targets can undertake. This understanding allows us to evidence where we need to focus on mode shift and behaviour change rather than EV cars.

In this letter we have aimed to provide you with an overview of the work we are doing to push forward EV development in the Midlands region. We are happy to share further evidence and information to the inquiry if this would be useful to your considerations.