Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council, electric vehicle charging points

As the demand for electric vehicles (EVs) continues to grow across the UK, local authorities play a pivotal role in getting EV infrastructure built. The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council (RBKC) is leading the charge with over 900 EV charging points installed. RBKC shows how Conservative run councils can roll out EV infrastructure, all while sticking to their Conservative principles. 

Increasing EV infrastructure opens the door to EV ownership, allowing more drivers to access charging, helping to combat range anxiety. Getting more EVs on the road could help drivers save money, as they cost as little as three pence per mile to charge, while a petrol or diesel car costs between 19 and 21 pence per mile on average. 

Road vehicles cause 87% of transport emissions, primarily through exhaust emissions of nitrogen oxide. EVs don’t have the same emissions as petrol or diesel cars, and so are better for the environment and human health, especially in cities where air quality can be poorer. 

RBKC partnered with OVO Energy and ubitricity in 2017 to build cost-effective infrastructure with minimal visual impact for residents. 

RBKC retrofitted existing lampposts and bollards with EV charging infrastructure, making them more sympathetic to the local architecture. Increasing EV charging infrastructure doesn’t mean you have to alter the local environment. 

To get the charging points built, residents had two options to either buy a charging cable and a monthly subscription scheme to ubitricity or to just buy a cable. Both launched with a small additional fee collected by ubitricity and paid to the council to maintain the equipment. 

Councils can, and should, prioritise private investment, as RBKC did, to get EV infrastructure for public charge points built. Public funding should be prioritised only for areas where it is not yet economically viable for private investment to be used. 

Other councils can replicate what RBKC did and partner with energy network providers and EV charging point operators to build EV infrastructure.