Working to achieve net zero carbon emissions
from transport in our region
Transport East has undertaken extensive research to understand the region’s challenges for the projected electric vehicle (EV) uptake.
Working with England’s Economic Heartland and other partners we looked at the scale and type of charging infrastructure needed to understand how to accelerate delivery.
Current transport activity is responsible for 42% of the region’s carbon emissions - the national average is 28%. The region has a large number of people living in rural areas where private transport is often needed for journeys.
Transport East has a priority to reduce emissions to net zero by 2040. Supporting authorities and developers to plan, locate and design charging infrastructure can speed the transition to low carbon private transport.
EV infrastructure forecast with EV:Ready
EV:Ready is a dashboard tool by WSP, that provides transport officers with an evidence base to plan and prioritise future EV charging infrastructure (EVCI) requirements. Evidence from the dashboard shows:
- In 2022 there were 1,037 public charge points in the Transport East region, and just under 22,000 private EVs.
- Depending on speed of EV uptake, the region could need up to 10,000 more public charge points by 2025 and 54,000 more by 2050.
- The areas most likely to take up an electric vehicle were assessed. Urban areas and places in the south of the region were considered to have a greater likelihood to change.
- Also assessed were car park locations, grid capacity, land use data, fleet turnover and reliance of on-street chargers to inform the dashboard.
- The results also show where the focus for rapid chargers and standard chargers should be geographically.
- There is a need to consider rural connectivity. The regions have a large number of people living in rural areas, with 1/3 of Transport East’s population relying on private vehicle use where public transport options are limited. Solutions for providing people who rely on on-street parking and better rural accessibility must be developed.
More can be found in the full report: EV:Ready Report.
We are working to making the mapping data widely available, but in the meantime if you are a local authority officer working in EV planning, please contact us and we can provide more information.
EV delivery insights through the ELectric Vehicle Insight Study (ELVIS)
This report with City Science looks at how local authorities, energy providers and private sector charge-point operators can work more effectively to deliver EV chargers in the right place.
The report is available here: ELectric Vehicle Insight Study (ELVIS).
It provides an overview of the region’s current and projected EV and EVCI insights, including detailed current EV usage, land use opportunities and delivery challenges.
Following the report recommendations Transport East will now be working to help local partners overcome identified challenges:
- Charge-point operators currently lack sufficient land to provide the number of charging points required to keep up with EV demand. Local authorities can help identify and pursue low-risk opportunities by funding short-term infrastructure rollouts.
- 80% of Transport East’s local authorities and 55% of England’s Economic Heartland’s have an EV strategy. Support is being offered to help authorities develop their EV strategies which will support STB’s and Government’s net-zero ambitions.
- Local Authorities should consider creating regional forums and working groups for transport officers. This can lead to effective knowledge and skill sharing and fill in knowledge gaps, helping to accelerate EV infrastructure project delivery.
- A regional approach to procurement, rather than localised, should be considered to speed up the process to procure charging infrastructure.
The report makes recommendations to tackle these challenges, focusing on the work of STBs, Local Authorities, national government, Charge Point Operators (CPOs) and the private sector.