Chargers on new developments
Prior to the submission of a planning application, the provision of vehicle chargepoints should be fully considered and discussed with East Lothian Council.
Residential developments
On residential developments, we expect at least one dedicated car charger per dwelling, ideally connected to a private electrical supply. Where it is not possible to connect to the household's own electrical supply e.g. in some flatted developments, then a factored arrangement can be considered, but the 1:1 ratio still applies.
On driveways, we expect Type 2 chargers to be provided, either socketed or tethered, with 7kW being preferred to 3kW.
However, we also recognise that not all new dwellings will have driveways and indeed, this is not something that we are promoting as we move away from car-dependency. Therefore we have been challenging developers to find creative ways of providing affordable and convenient access to charging for new residents of homes without driveways. East Lothian Council do not intend to take responsibility for the ongoing maintenance or monitoring of any chargers in new residential areas; this must be taken on by either individuals or factors. A developer contribution to allow ELC to deploy chargers specifically associated with related community facilities may, however, be required.
Even for dwellings without dedicated parking we expect a 1:1 ratio of dwellings to chargers. This provides sufficient capacity to allow for cars being parked up for weeks at a time, without it impacting on the neighbours' access to charging. Factoring arrangements should include provision for dealing with 'hogging' of charging spaces, should this become an issue.
We expect developers to engage with electricity providers to ensure that the entire electricity supply infrastructure will have sufficient capacity to enable all chargepoints to operate simultaneously, although not necessarily at full rated output, i.e. it would be acceptable for 7kW devices to be load managed and output as low as 2kW when in synchronous use.
Further guidance and local examples of good practice are available here.
Residential developments – Council Housing
The requirement is still for one charger per dwelling, but where East Lothian Council (rather than a private factor) will maintain the communal parking areas, then Road Services would look to adopt and maintain the residential chargepoints.
Non-residential developments
We expect that the greater of 1 space or 15% of spaces have chargepoints. At least one charging space must be fully accessible.
Electricity supply for chargepoints
Developers should engage with the Distribution Network Operator (DNO) to ensure that the entire electricity supply infrastructure will have sufficient capacity to enable all chargepoints to operate simultaneously. The developer will be required to meet the costs of any upgrades needed. Large developments with dedicated electricity sub-stations should specify the sub-station to a sufficient capacity to cater fully for all EV charging requirements.
Accessing chargepoints
Tariffs for electricity from factored chargepoints should be set at an appropriate rate. Private chargepoints which are publicly available should be capable of pay-as-you-go transactions.