Fears lamppost EV chargers are 'too costly to use'

New charging points for electric vehicles on lampposts have faced criticism from some for costing up to ten times more than charging at home.

Bristol City Council has installed 149 points on lampposts, but they cost 55p per kilowatt-hour compared to about 5p at home, according to councillor Tim Kent.

The Amp Post pilot scheme is in response to people living in flats or terraced houses without driveways struggling to charge. But Kent believes the price could make the chargers "too costly to use".

After a debate, councillors approved a new strategy to encourage residents to switch to electric vehicles at a meeting on Thursday.

The government is currently sticking to its plan to ban sales of new petrol and diesel cars from 2035.

But the cost and availability of charging points remain key barriers to getting people to switch from petrol and diesel vehicles, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

There will be an estimated 15,000 electric vehicles in Bristol by next year, which will need 800 charging points, compared with the current 200.

The number of EVs in the city is expected to then rise to 40,000 in 2030, with a target of 1,000 charging points.

A total of £2.16m has also been allocated from West of England Combined Authority (Weca) to expand Bristol's limited network of residential charging points, focusing on dense Victorian suburbs, where many residents do not have access to off-street parking.

Kent said: "We're putting in some good infrastructure, and that's great and it is desperately needed.

"Whole blocks of the city are excluded potentially from using EVs because they cannot charge at home. But here's the problem: why are we bothering to put this infrastructure in, if it's too costly to use?

"If it costs you more to run the vehicle than it does to put petrol in your car, that's going to put a lot of people off."

The 55p rate was based on the market price of energy and the council's own energy supply. Through the pilot of the amp posts, that tariff will be reviewed to ensure the rate is competitive.

Councillor Martin Fodor, chair of the environment committee, said he agreed it was "really important that we don't have additional barriers" to people switching to electric vehicles.

"It protects the health of our community if there is a switch. But we need to know that it's something everyone can access in order to make that switch, if that's how they want to travel," he added.

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