Gasoline and diesel cars on our roads could soon be a thing of the past. As the government seeks a commitment to ban the sale of gasoline and diesel cars by 2030, the electric vehicle market and the number of low-carbon cars on the road, which hit half a million earlier on May 5, the prospect of a one emission-free future looks more practicable every day.
However, there is one major barrier to electrical takeover – the infrastructure. In the last week of April, the UK had just reached a total of 15,000 charging stations, according to the Zap-Map database. There were 23,000 chargers and more than 40,000 connections at these locations.
The rate at which new charging points are being added each year is far too slow for the government to achieve its goal, a Policy Exchange report found in February. In fact, according to their estimates, the rate must be five times faster.
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According to JustPark, the UK’s most popular parking app, one solution is for individuals and businesses to offer their private charging points to the public. The company is trying to expand its network of available electric vehicle chargers and encourage those who want to rent them to add them to their platform.
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This would help existing drivers find local charging points, but according to the company’s founder, Anthony Eskinazi, it would also help overcome one of the biggest obstacles to the adoption of electric vehicles – namely, that many people are nowhere to charge their vehicles overnight can.
“People who park off-street tend to have townhouses and semi-detached houses,” he said I. His concern is that as the use of electric vehicles increases, there will be a gap between “belongings”, that is, between people who have space for their own private charging station and those who do not. And those who don’t will be missing out on potential savings as a result.
“As an EV driver you pay no congestion fee, no road tax and receive government subsidies. Suddenly these people who don’t have access to off-street parking are disenfranchised. “
Those who turn their driveways into charging stations could not only help with the introduction of electric transport, but also generate additional income.
The costs
Government grants are available to help reduce the cost of installing the right equipment.
The Office for Emission-Free Vehicles (OZEV) offers a grant that makes a 75 percent contribution to the costs of a charging station and its installation. A grant cap is £ 350 (including VAT) per installation. To use the grant, you must have your own electric vehicle. These start at around £ 20,000, but you are also eligible if you lease an Eligible Vehicle for at least six months or are on loan from your employer.
Anthony Eskinazi, an EV driver, even listed his own driveway on the app for this reason (Photo: Provided)
According to RAC, the typical cost of installing a pre-grant charging point is £ 800. However, it may be cheaper depending on the model of charger and the installation company.
Charge point installation company Pod Point estimates that for a typical electric car with a 60 kWh battery and a range of about 200 miles, home charging would cost about £ 8.40 for a full charge.
earn money
If you have an accessible space with its own charging station, you can potentially make money. Users of JustPark and similar apps can already earn money in unused parking spaces. With an Airbnb model, drivers can book these. However, this tends to favor those with parking in cities or near train stations, while the demand for EV chargers could extend to the suburbs.
For this reason, Mr Eskinazi, who is himself an EV driver, has even listed his own driveway in the app.
“Nobody would ever have to park normally in my driveway,” he explains. “But I list my charger, and my charger is essentially the only local public charger in my community.”
JustPark added around 120 new EV hosts every week.
Although users report that EVs still account for a small fraction of bookings, this is expected to increase both as more charging points become available and as more drivers hit the electric switch.
According to Eskinazi, this also gives room owners a chance to make a profit, especially if they have a good energy tariff, as the parker pays for the electricity they consume with an additional margin.
Case studies
Caroline installed a charging station
Caroline Kelly, 64, from Kentish Town, London
In 2013, Caroline had an EV charging station installed on her property for free.
“At that time, JustPark and an energy supplier contacted me to install a free one,” she explains. “Even though we didn’t and still don’t have an electric vehicle, the opportunity was too good to be missed.
“We mainly offer our space via JustPark as a parking lot. It is rented on average 8 to 10 times a month for gasoline / diesel cars. The busiest times are days of the week and we could be making anything like £ 100 a month. “
David Toso no longer needs his own car
David Toso, 60, film producer from Ealing, West London
Although David doesn’t have an EV charger, he provides a 13 amp socket in his garage for those who have their own EV charger to use.
“I came to JustPark in 2014 because it allowed me to earn a little more money with my driveway. My car would be in the garage and I would sneak it out between bookings if I needed it.
“When the government tightened air quality standards and my use of public transport and the Boris bike increased, I found it uneconomical to keep the car.
“Now I use car sharing whenever I have to go to a place that is not served by public transport and use my bike for short trips.
“Charging the electric car while I am driving currently only accounts for 5 percent of the traffic. Most cars are non-electric, but I expect that to change, especially when the ultra-low emissions zone extends to my area later this year. Every owner of an electric car has a charger that they plug into the 13-amp plug of the garage.
