10.1 a) With multiple players involved in delivering each charge point (i.e. landowner, site manager, Electricity North West Limited, statutory undertakers), the importance of good communication and pre-planning is paramount and a project manager is a good investment. Funding via LEVI has been made available for the appointment of project staff.
b) Technical assessment of each proposed location is vital if later wastage (time and resources) is to be avoided.
c) Supply chain issues involving materials and components is a real constraint and can delay implementation significantly.
d) Property and legal details are important and with several different local authorities involved there may be differences in approach and requirements from place to place which could complicate procurement.
e) Electricity North West Limited, the network operator, will be involved from the earliest possible stage so that appropriate evaluation of the capacity of electrical supply at each location can be carried out.
f) Technical assessment of sites should include consideration of the needs of disabled drivers and any that would present difficulties should be eliminated at an early stage. * BSI Standards 1899 Accessible electric vehicle charging: Launching PAS 1899 | BSI (bsigroup.com)
g) Consideration should be given to timing and manner of the introduction of changes to traffic regulations at each site and whether there is scope to make transitional arrangements to avoid perceived disadvantages for drivers of non-EVs.
10.2 The first public EV charge point installations in Cumberland were carried out under the SOSCI project (Scaling of On Street Charging Infrastructure), funded by Innovate UK. This project was led by a community benefit society, Charge My Street, and as such crossed administrative boundaries. SOSCI charge points were installed in numerous locations across Cumbria, including both Cumberland and Westmorland & Furness Councils. The SOSCI project commenced in 2019 and with an interruption due to the pandemic, initial uptake was slow. However, in 2022-23 the usage of the original charge points has grown exponentially, increasing by more than 10-fold within the year. The customer-focused approach to EV charging was continued with work done by One Public Estate in 2022 and 2023 and is intended to make the transition to electric vehicles easier for our residents and visitors alike. One way of achieving that aim is to synchronise the ‘customer experience’ so that all charge points in the county have a distinct brand, are easy to use and have common features such as payment methods, tariffs etc. In the west of England, 4 local authorities have created a joint enterprise, Revive, to deliver EV infrastructure.