Electric vehicle charging points

Publicly available EV charge points can be found at many of your usual destinations such as car parks and supermarkets. Details of EV charge points available for public use is available on third party websites such as zap-map and provision is growing all the time.

You may be able to charge your vehicle at your workplace if your employer has installed a charge point.

We know how important accessible charging points are to residents and increasing the use of electric vehicles to support a sustainable borough is also hugely important to us.

In the same way that providing petrol pumps doesn’t fall under the remit of the council, charge points are provided by private providers.

However, the council does already host charge points in a number of our car parks across the borough and we will continue to work with the commercial market on identifying opportunities to install charge points at many more council-operated car parks and leisure centres.

We will also ensure charge points are included as part of new housing developments

At public car parks operated by the council, although there is no cost for parking whilst your vehicle is being charged, there is a 3-hour limit on the length of time that you can charge. If your vehicle is fully charged within the three-hour period then you must relocate your vehicle to one of the other standard parking bays. Once relocated to a standard bay, you must pay for any further parking.

At privately run car parks you should check the information provided by the car park operator.

EV charge point bays are only for use while charging. At public car parks operated by the council, vehicles parked in EV charge point bays and not connected to the charge point will be issued with a penalty charge notice.

To assist in availability of the charge point, a maximum charging period of 3 hours has been imposed at all car parks operated by the council. If the vehicle is parked for longer than the 3 hours, irrespective of whether it is connected to the charge point, it will be issued with a penalty charge notice.

Yes: if you have private off-street parking within the boundary of your home or business, you can apply for a Government grant if you meet the criteria. Please see online for details of the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme or the Workplace Charge point Scheme.

No, as an individual you cannot install an EV charge point on the street.

Our transport strategy recognises that a significant proportion of North Tyneside was built before the car was invented and certainly before it became common. Our Zero Emission Vehicles Strategy recognises the potential for providers to install publicly available charging hubs at off-street locations and similar solutions which avoid generating additional street clutter or maintenance and management challenges.

No, for safety reasons we do not allow this. Any cable which crosses a footway, even if contained within a rigid cover, could be a trip hazard for pedestrians or for people in wheelchairs or with pushchairs or prams. Consequently, the cable constitutes an offence under Sections 137(1) and 162 of the Highways Act 1980. The council has a duty to ensure the safety of all pedestrians and other road users and will take legal action where necessary.

At present there is no established, practical means for charging electric vehicles on the road in streets where houses don’t have the benefit of their own private parking space. It may be the case that the commercial sector will develop a solution and if this happens the council will support those operators where we can.

However, the development of the infrastructure required for on-street charging is at an early stage and any potential roll-out will take time.

Charge points are already provided at a number of the council’s car parks and we intend to work with the commercial market to identify opportunities to install charge points at many more council-operated car parks and leisure centres.

In areas of terraced streets where houses do not have private off-street parking, if the commercial market does not provide a solution, we will work with commercial operators to seek to introduce ‘hub’ arrangements. This will prioritise off-street charging hubs, e.g. at car parks or public buildings within the local area, and similar solutions which avoid generating additional street clutter or maintenance and management challenges.

Charging via streetlight columns is not currently being pursued as our existing street lighting is mainly located at the back of the footway and cables run from parked vehicles to streetlamps could be trip hazards for other road users. In addition, many of our streetlight columns would be likely to need to be upgraded or replaced before they could operate as dual-purpose streetlights and charging points.

Residents are welcome to make suggestions to the council about installing EV charge points and these will feed into our wider delivery strategy, however we cannot respond to individual requests to install charge points. Suggestions may be sent by email to parkingcontrol@northtyneside.gov.uk

You can get a discount on the price of brand new low-emission vehicles through a grant the government gives to vehicle dealerships and manufacturers. The dealer will normally include the value of the grant in the vehicle’s price.

Your car is unlikely to need charging every day. Many car users cover limited mileage during the week and may only need to charge their EV periodically, e.g. every 4-5 days.

To optimise your car’s operation, rather than fully charging the vehicle it is usually best to charge to between 20% and 80%, however you should always check the manufacturer’s guidance.

Depending on the battery size your car’s maximum range may be in the range of 100 to 350 miles.

Other factors, such as weather conditions and whether you run the air conditioning, may affect a car’s range.

The cost of charging at home will depend on the tariff set by your electricity supplier.

It may be cheapest to charge your vehicle during off-peak hours (00:00 - 06:00) and most charge points and vehicles have scheduled charging applications to help manage this.

Elsewhere, the cost is set by the company which operates the charge point. Details of EV charge points available for public use can be found on third party websites such as zap-map. Costs will normally vary relative to the speed of charge.

This depends on the type of vehicle, the size of its battery, and the type of chargepoint you use. For general guidance purposes, there are three main types of chargepoint:

• Slow charging – defined as a charge rate less than 7 kW. It typically takes 6 – 12 hours to fully charge your car
• Fast charging – defined as a charge rate of between 7kW and 22kW. It typically takes 2 – 6 hours to fully charge your car
• Rapid charging – defined as a charge rate of more than 22

In our Transport Strategy the council sets out that our approach is to encourage walking and cycling as the most sustainable forms of transport, or taking the bus, Metro or ferry, particularly when we know that many car journeys in the borough are made over distances of only a couple of miles.

And we know that electric vehicles, although much cleaner than petrol or diesel equivalents, still produce some pollution.

As such we have a programme of highway improvement schemes that incorporate cycling and walking improvements and support bus movements.

We continue to support the use and expansion of e-bikes (pedal-powered, electrically assisted cycles) and e-cargobikes (cycles which include a container for carrying light goods) as these can provide alternatives to the car or van for many local journeys.

We also take part in a number of initiatives to support cycling and walking in the borough, as healthy and sustainable means of transport. These include Bikeability national standard cycling training; School Streets; Walk to School promotion; and Go Smarter sustainable travel promotion.

Our Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEV) Strategy states that we will support the transition of public transport and commercial vehicles to ZEVs and this will include engaging with the taxi trade through established forums.

Our Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy includes a vehicle age criterion, which will help to encourage the take-up of hybrid vehicles and ZEVs in preference to petrol and diesel.

Some fully electric buses are already running within Tyne and Wear and we continue to work with the bus operators and regional transport bodies to seek opportunities for further replacement of diesel buses with zero emission buses.