EV charging

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Availability of Electric vehicle (EV) Chargers : Heriot Row / East London Street

Adapted from an email sent to all City centre councillors on 23 February. 

As you may have noticed, the EV chargers on Heriot Row and East London Street have been barriered off and are no longer available. We were advised that the chargers have been removed so that stone setts could be added to the concrete plinths on which the chargers had been installed a few months ago.

Apparently this is being driven by heritage concerns.

As far as we are aware there is no plan to change out the very non-heritage chargers themselves. This is simply about making their bases more visually attractive.

While the reason for this work on Heriot Row could be justified on heritage grounds, it would seem to make no sense on East London Street as that side of the road is outside both the World Heritage Site and the New Town Conservation Area.

Also, there is nothing on the Council website to inform users that these have been taken out of service. Given that they are the only Rapid Chargers in this area of the city, this could cause issues for users.

We find it hard to believe that this work is proceeding in the current financial climate and would ask for a response to the following questions:

  • Who approved this work?
  • How much is it costing?
  • When will units be back in service?

On a separate matter, in addition to the concerns raised at the recent NTBCC meeting regarding the lack of clear notification about the overstay penalties (as covered here), ChargePlace Scotland have recently introduced a minimum charge of £1.00 which applies even if no current has been drawn. Users have reported that they have experienced problems connecting to the chargers and have been charged the minimum fee for these failed connections. This is surely not what was intended.

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NTBCC meeting agenda Monday 13 February 2023

Meeting starts 7pm, and in-person, at the Drummond Room, Broughton St Mary’s, 

    1. Admin / Welcome
    2. Minutes of meeting held on 12 December 2022 and minutes of business meeting held on Monday 16 January 2023
      (To approve)
    3. Police report
      (To note)
    4. Transport
      1. East London Street – bus routing (To discuss)
      2. Trams to Newhaven – key issues/update (To note / discuss)
      3. Transport and Environment Committee report – planned consultation regarding City Mobility Plan (To note / discuss)
      4. Meeting with CEC regarding Active Travel issues (To note)
      5. EV Charging Points – concerns over fines (To note / discuss)
      6. Invitation to be extended to Daisy Narayanan and Ruth White to attend NTBCC meeting
    5. Culture and Communities
      1. Full Council motion by Cllr Hal Osler (Lib Dem) on Trees in Princes St Gardens (To note)
      2. Full Council motion by Cllr Ben Parker (Green) on ‘Nature Emergency’ (To note)
    6. Communications
      1. Plan to increase NTBCC membership (To discuss )
      2. Update from Engagement & Communications Committee meeting (To note)
    7. Environment
      1. Environmental issues for Non Gull Proof Bag streets (To discuss)
    8. Planning
      1. National Planning Framework – NPF4 now adopted by Scottish Government: implications for current local development plan (To report)
    9. Licensing
      1. Update on recent licensing applications
    10. Treasurer’s Report
      (To note)
    11. Any other Business
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Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Points – NTBCC’s Initial Experience

NTBCC supported the initiative by Edinburgh Council in principle to roll-out additional EV charging points in the New Town following their successful bid for funding from the Scottish Government in 2021. This initiative formed part of the high level ‘City Mobility Plan’ proposal to install more electric vehicle charging points across the New Town and other peripheral locations.

For context, Edinburgh Council were awarded a grant of £2.2m from Transport Scotland through the ‘Switched on Towns and Cities Fund’ for installing electric vehicle (EV) on-street chargers across Edinburgh – a total of 66 on-street charging points would be put in across the city as part of the first phase of implementation. Work was expected to be complete with all chargers operational by Spring 2022 although this was delayed by a few months for installations within NTBCC’s area.

The Switched on Towns and Cities Fund aimed to facilitate a step change in the uptake of plug-in electric vehicles (EVs) in Scotland’s towns and cities. Its objective was to incentivise, encourage and promote the use of plug-in EVs.

Three of the streets selected as part of this initiative fell within NTBCC’s area: East London Street, India Street and Heriot Row. A further installation was also planned for Montgomery Street (4 chargers with 8 bays), just outside NTBCC’s area.

We did question the wisdom behind the proposal to install an EV charge point at the bottom of India Street and this was subsequently removed from the scope.

We also offered advice, following discussions with local residents, regarding the specific locations selected as well as the types of EV charge points being proposed; however following some delays in commissioning,  the EV charge points have been installed and are now all in operation as originally proposed (with the exception of India Street as mentioned). 

Continue reading →

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Future Electric Vehicle Charging Points – Invitation to Focus Group sessions

Adapted from an email sent to NTBCC from The Project Centre who are acting on behalf of Edinburgh Council regarding the future strategy for provision  of addiitonal EV charging points in Edinburgh (& specifically for NTBCC, across the wider New Town , Bellevue and Broughton area).

We are writing to invite you to be part of a Focus Group on the future of Electric Vehicle Charging Points (EVCPs) in Edinburgh. We are looking to gather feedback from a wide range of users throughout Edinburgh, including those with disabilities or impairments.

The purpose of these focus groups is to speak with both EV and non-EV users on the proposals for additional charging points in Edinburgh, to ensure the strategy developed will meet these aims and the needs of local people, driving greater uptake of EVs into the future.

  • A well-designed, comprehensive and people-focused public charge point network.
  • An accessible, and reliable public network of charge points that caters to everyone, including access in areas with low traffic flows, rural areas, and to communities without access to home charging.
  • Charge points which support the principle of a Just Transition and are powered by clean, renewable energy.

The session will be around 2 hours and be facilitated virtually via Microsoft Teams; sessions are planned for 15th  and 17th  November.

Continue reading →

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Edinburgh Council’s Proposal for On-street EV Charging Facilities

The Council has recently issued a draft Traffic Regulation Order (TRO/21/24) for the initial stage of consultation on the installation of on-street electric vehicle (EV) charging places on 11 streets across the City.

As background – the Council have been awarded £2.2m of funding from Transport Scotland through the ‘Switched on Towns and Cities Fund’ for installing electric vehicle (EV) on-street chargers across Edinburgh – a total of 66 on-street charging points will be put in across the city as part of the first phase of implementation. Work is expected to be complete with all chargers operational by Spring 2022.

Three of these streets fall within our area: East London Street, India Street and Heriot Row. A further installation is planned for Montgomery Street (4 chargers with 8 bays), just outside NTBCC’s area.

Apart from the location, dimensions of the charging places and the type of charger (KW), the TRO provides very little detail about what will be installed. We’re aware that some residents have already questioned the precise locations of these installations.

From a separate Council website to provide information about the roll out of EV charging, we understand that a total of 8 chargers will service 16 charging bays at the above streets. Also at the Transport and Environment Committee meeting on 14th October, it was reported that a contract had been awarded to BP Pulse to install the EV chargers. Their website shows three different designs for their chargers. We will be seeking clarification from the Council about what exactly will be installed in the Edinburgh World Heritage site and / or the New Town Conservation Area.

This topic will be on the agenda for the next NTBCC meeting on 8 November but in the meantime if you have any comments about these plans please do let us know (via the ‘Contact Us’ facility on our website here and respond to the consultation by writing to TRO.Consultations@edinburgh.gov.uk.

You can also write to the team responsible for the EV charging project at electricvehicles@edinburgh.gov.uk.