Electric Vehicle Charging – Birmingham City Council

Electric Vehicle Charging Points

In the race to net zero, projections predict that there may be over 170,000 EVs in Birmingham by 2030, of which over 153,000 would be cars. To meet the charging demand from these vehicles, there would need to be around 3,630 public accessible charge points. To support this growth, Birmingham City Council’s Charge Point Strategy for City-Wide Electric Vehicle Charging, , adopted in November 2021,  is based on four key principles of:

• Following a best practice approach for choice of technology.
• Aligns with consumer preferences and current deployment trends.
• Aligns with wider aims within the council, including reducing reliance on private cars and encouraging modal shift (changes in travel away from private cars and towards public transport, walking and cycling).
• Charge points are accessible and equitable for all.

By 2032, there will be between 3,600 – 5,000 publicly accessible charge points in Birmingham. This modelled figure is based on the assumption that 70% of Birmingham households have a drive or access to off road parking where home/personal charge points will be used as a significantly cheaper home tariff EV charging option. However, we acknowledge that the number of charge points required to meet charging demand depends heavily on the type of charging technologies installed and the extent of change in travel behaviour away from private cars towards sustainable modes such as walking, cycling and public transport (40% modal shift) to be achieved in Birmingham. As of October 2022, Birmingham has 618 charge points in total.

The table below details the distribution and kW of these points, noting that through the Council’s procured Delivery Partner, ESB Ltd, fast (22kw) and rapid (50kw) charge point are being deployed as the initial phase of a cross-city strategic network, (in public car parks, parks, leisure centres, on the highway and other public land).  From 2023 similarly, there will be a focus on deploying ultra-rapid hubs across on public land, alongside local community on street charge point solutions where there is little or no off-street parking.   The Council and ESB Ltd are also working in collaboration with Transport for West Midlands on their park and ride sites, alongside other private sector developments in supermarkets, retail outlets, entertainment centres and other places of destination.