A government proposal for local authorities to be responsible for planning and delivering an electric vehicle infrastructure has received the backing of drivers in a new survey.

The Venson study found 43% of UK motorists would support local authorities being responsible for local charging infrastructure planning and delivery

A current Future of Transport consultation being run by the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles include new proposals on EV charging for a “robust and expansive charge point network that will allow everyone to make the switch to electric”, supporting the 2030 ICE ban.

The consultation explores new requirements on local charging provision and whether to introduce a statutory duty for local authorities (LAs) in England and Wales to plan for EV infrastructure – or for responsibility to pass to charge point firms or energy companies.

A study carried out by Venson has found that 43% of UK motorists would support local authorities being responsible in this case, while  28% believe that a national organisation, such as Highways England, would be better placed to take on the responsibility. And one in five (21%) would prefer to see private organisations specialising in EV charging – such as Shell Recharge or Pod Point – to run the charging infrastructure independently, albeit on a regional level.

Currently, local charging infrastructure provision is installed at the discretion of local authorities – mostly in areas where private charge point operators are not expected to invest because of current low demand and a lack of commercial viability, such as on-street locations.

However, roll-out varies wildly and as demand for EVs rises, it’s expected that there will be increasing viability for charge point operators to deliver at these locations.

But while one option is to place the requirement to the LAs in England and Wales, charging specialist Connected Kerb said to Fleet World recently that many local authorities are struggling with the time and resources to get to grips with what’s required of them for charge point deployment – exacerbated by the extra pressures being heaped on them in the pandemic – and that the Government needs to support them with helping them get up to speed.

Venson’s survey also revealed that motorists in Northern Ireland, London, the South East and Anglia are most in favour of their local authority shouldering the EV infrastructure responsibility, whilst those in the West Midlands, Yorkshire & Humberside and Wales, are the least supportive.

Alison Bell, marketing director at Venson Automotive Solutions, said there could be benefits to passing responsibility for charging to local councils rather than other organisations.

“With the right funding and statutory obligations on councils we should see less well-served areas have improved charging infrastructure which will help to meet the needs of all communities. We would hope that such a move would encourage more drivers to adopt an EV ahead of the 2030 deadline.”

The Future of Transport consultation will run until 11:45pm on 22 November 2021. To access the survey online, click here, or for more details, visit the OZEV consultation page.