Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk. With Aviva Insurance. Now, though, electric car owners who can't install a charger at home might take heart now from plans in London to try to solve the problem for people who don't have driveways or people who live in terraced houses. It's proved to be a major barrier for urban dwellers who really want to switch to EVs.
So let's talk through some of the possible solutions to the problem. I'm joined by the president of the Irish Planning Institute, Gavin Lawler. Good morning, Gavin.
Hi.
Morning, Clare.
Chapter 2: What solutions are being proposed for EV charging in urban areas?
So they think, do they, that they have found a solution in London? What is it?
The solution in London is, well, they have a number of solutions, but the one that's reported in the press today is essentially a slot in the footpath that has a gap in it that you can place your cable into. So you're able to
plug one end of your car charger into your wall socket on your property, run the cable through the slot, essentially going underneath the footpath coming out to your car at the curb. And that's one of the solutions they have. And another solution they have is where they put the car chargers into lamp standards. And another one that they're looking at as well is something like what they do
with boats on marinas where they have a pillar which has a number of charging points on it, four or five, and you use a swipe card to be able to plug your car into that and avail of your own home electricity rate.
So if you were to do the gully solution that you outlined there, you'd have to dig a little trench in the footpath and then put your cable into it. Then I assume there would have to be something covering that over, like a metal flap.
So the way it works is there's a proprietary system. It's essentially cut as exactly as you say, you cut the channel in the footpath. It's wide enough. It's about a hundred mil wide or so, or slightly less than that. And it's a contraption that's the full width of the footpath that has a slot in the top with brushes on it so that it holds the cable into the slot.
And it's a metal channel so that there's only a gap of the width of the actual wire to push through in brushes. And the brushes will stop the cable popping back out until you pull it back out.
So do you think that's a solution that might work here in Ireland?
It is, but again, people will be nervous of it because it requires the homeowner to properly make sure that the cable is properly secured in the channel, because if it pokes out a little bit or it's not properly put in, well, then it's still a trip hazard. So people will be nervous about that. But I do think it's a really good solution to the problem.
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Chapter 3: How does the footpath charging slot work for electric vehicles?
And then to put the cable into it, the, the w there's two things that need to be resolved from a legislative perspective. One specifically that would have to be included as exempted development. So you wouldn't need planning permission. Uh, second of all, um, then they would need to, I believe that there's a cost of associated with that.
And I think if you're in that circumstance, you there's a grant available for people to put home car chargers in. I think it should be included that if you're in a situation where you're in an urban environment. and you need to put a piece of kit like this into your footpath, then there should be a grant contribution towards that as well.
The other problem, Gavin, is that you're not guaranteed to get the spot outside of your house if you're living in an urban area.
This is it, but at least if you have the channel, you have some chance. If you don't have the channel, well then you're not going to be able to do it. Absolutely. And that's why in the UK, in urban areas, you don't own the property outside your footpath and you don't have the right to park your car in that spot.
So that's why in the UK they have these systems on a street where you have those, it's like a bollard that has, you know, a series of connection points on it. And beside each of the connection points is a swipe card.
And so it doesn't matter which one you plug into, your swipe card is tied into your meter in your home so that when you swipe it, it adds the cost of the energy you use onto your bill.
Well, that's a really important part of the puzzle, because if you were using those, you know, public chargers and paying the public rate on them, you wouldn't be getting your cheaper, say, your night rate that people have set up now. So that avoids that. So you're linked up to your home electricity account. Right.
Yes, but the problem with providing that is who provides it, who bears the cost of that infrastructure and the technology involved to do that. So that's not as straightforward as it sounds. It's a great idea. It works very effectively, but there's a lot of work that needs to be done to essentially put in the infrastructure to facilitate that.
The same is true of putting the charges on the lampposts. You need fibre optics, you need the swipe cards, you know, there's a cost to that. So it's a case of who pays for that. Is that ESB or one of the other energy providers or is it the homeowner themselves or is it a group of homeowners together or is it the council?
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Chapter 4: What alternative charging solutions are being considered in London?
What you do know, though, as president of the Irish Planning Institute, is that this really is a major problem, isn't it, for people who live in urban areas where you can't currently install a charger and run the cable out over the footpath. People have, it's a deterrent, isn't it, to getting an EV?
It is. And unfortunately people get frustrated and then end up taking the law into their own hands, so to speak, and next end up going and doing this and have done this in, in a number of locations in both suburban and in urban areas in city center, where they've actually felt they got so frustrated by it.
They've come up with their own solutions, um, in terms of, uh, cable covers, et cetera, to, to allow them to use their electric cars, because it is, I think it is a little bit of a, um, uh, contradiction that we're saying. please, please, please move from ice or internal combustion engine cars to electric cars.
And then people, homeowners aren't able in a position to actually benefit from that transition because it is a lot cheaper to run an electric car in a city environment than it is a petrol driven car. But that's only the case if you're able to charge it on your own home electricity. If you're doing so off public chargers, it gets a lot more expensive.
Well they're planning for it in London at least and then a listener says that the Dutch are installing five chargers on each lamppost just as you described in that system you outlined earlier. Are you aware that there are plans afoot here in Ireland to try to solve this problem?
Not specifically but I do know that this is something that is a live issue both in the Department of Transport and the Department of Housing so It's another one on their list of many issues that they have to resolve. So I am aware that it is something that is being looked at. Whether or not we see significant progress in the short term, I don't know.
Gavin, thank you very much. Gavin Lawler there, President of the Irish Planning Institute. And if you're somebody who has come up with a solution for this problem yourself, maybe you're someone who has an electric vehicle, but you don't have a driveway, but you're still managing to charge your car using your home charger. Tell us how you did it on WhatsApp 087 1400 106. The Clare Byrne Show.
With Aviva Insurance. Weekday mornings at 9. On Newstalk. Conversation that counts.
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