Hounslow Electric Vehicle Charging Strategy & Consultation

The London Borough of Hounslow Council declared a climate emergency in 2019. Since then, we have been taking urgent action to help achieve zero carbon status as soon as possible.

Although as a council we are prioritising the delivery of projects that encourage more trips on foot, by bike or public transport, as part of our wider transport strategies, we recognise that this is not possible for every journey or individual. We consider that it is therefore important that the council delivers the charging point infrastructure that is necessary to support the increase in cleaner vehicles.

In November 2022, we approved our Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Strategy, which aims to deliver over 2,000 new chargepoints across the borough, providing a range of different chargepoint types, with the aim of delivering a good minimum level of service for all residents and businesses.

In addition to aligning with the council’s net-zero goals, the strategy also aims to address the projected increase in demand, which will emerge from the UK Government’s ban on new conventional petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2030 and the ban of hybrid vehicles from 2035.

In summary, the objectives of the strategy are to:

Focus our EV infrastructure delivery to achieve the greatest reduction in harmful emissions; by prioritising infrastructure which will enable high mileage drivers (eg taxis, private hire, LGVs) to make the transition to EVs.
Achieve a good minimum level of service for all residents, businesses, and visitors; by 2023 areas with limited off-street parking will have a charge point within a 1 minute walk, and all other areas of the borough will be within a 5 minute walk.
Deliver a chargepoint network which is good value for money; achieved by creating a network that is well utilised, gives consumers access to competitively priced tariffs, responds to innovations in the marketplace and is well run and maintained.
Provide EV infrastructure in a fair and transparent way; achieved by developing clear processes for handling requests and consulting on new points, ensuring the network is accessible and minimising impact on footways;
Provide EV infrastructure which supports more efficient use of our streets; by supporting EV provision for other modes such as car clubs and keeping parking policies on EVs under regular view.

Consultation and feedback

To gather feedback on the draft EV Charging Strategy, a period of public consultation was held between Friday 22 July and Sunday 11 September 2022. The consultation aimed to understand the thoughts and priorities of existing EV owners, future EV owners, non- car owners and a wide variety of boroughwide stakeholders and businesses. This allowed members of the public to review our strategy and share their thoughts on the main action points that would be taken forward. Throughout the consultation, we conducted the following engagement:

Online workshops with EV users and Non-EV users
In person drop in sessions at various locations across the Borough
Leafleting and business engagement
Correspondence and regular stakeholder communications.

The consultation attracted 181 individual responses, with the feedback analysed and collated into a consultation report. A number of amendments were made to the strategy to take on board the feedback received. An updated strategy and consultation report were presented to Cabinet in November 2022 for consideration and approval.

Details of the decision taken at Cabinet, including the consultation report and strategy document, can be found in full on our website here (see Item 6): Agenda for Cabinet on Tuesday, 15 November 2022, 7:00 pm | London Borough of Hounslow