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Hertfordshire County Council

Electric vehicles (EV) are an important tool in tackling climate change, reducing carbon emissions and improving air quality. Increasing the use of electric vehicles is one of the ways we hope to create a cleaner, greener, healthier Hertfordshire.

Map of charging points

Types of plugs, how to pay or report a fault.

Planning to charge at home...?

Planning permission, cables across pavements etc.

Our EV charging strategy

Including future off and on-street charging points.

Government grants

For residents and workplaces.

Try before you buy

Car clubs offer short term hire.

Contact us

 


Map of charging points


Zap Map - Map of electric vehicle charging points
View it online or download their smartphone app.

Each point on the map includes:

  • the types of plugs available
  • how to pay
  • how to report a fault - contact details for each provider.

Depending on where you are in Hertfordshire, you might find charging points in public or business car parks, petrol stations and on-street parking bays. Check for maximum stay limits or additional parking fees.

Want to share your home or business charging point with other electric vehicle owners? Add it to Zap Map's peer-to-peer network.

 


Planning to charge at home...?

Planning permission


In most cases you won't need any, as they are 'permitted developments'. You might need planning permission if the chargepoint will be:

  • near a road or listed building
  • a wall-mounted unit bigger than 0.2 cubic metres
  • a ground mounted unit over 1.6m tall.

 

Who you need to inform


Once you have chosen a certified installer, ask them to:

  • notify your electricity 'distribution network operator' (DNO)
  • confirm the installation complies with building regulations and provide a Building Regulations Completion Certificate.

You don't need to notify the highways authority.

GOV.UK offers more advice on registering an electric vehicle chargepoint.

 

Cables across pavements (including covered/recessed cables)


You cannot run private charging cables across public roads, pavements and paths:

  • They would create an obstruction and trip hazard for others using the pavement. We need to keep them safe and accessible for everyone.
  • They would also breach electrical safety standards and are unlikely to be covered by public liability insurance.

We also don't currently permit cable covers or recessed cable gullies due to liability and maintenance issues, although we are monitoring trials taking place in other areas.

If you see incidences of this, please report to Countywide.LicenceandEnforcement@hertfordshire.gov.uk.

 

 

Visit the Electric Vehicle Consumer Code to find out more about:

  • benefits of home chargepoints
  • planning permission and requirements for home chargepoints
  • finding a certified installer and questions you should ask them
  • choosing a chargepoint
  • standard 3-pin wall sockets vs. dedicated EV chargepoints
  • steps for getting a chargepoint installed on your driveway
  • how much home charging costs and how long it takes.


WWF explains how to charge with renewable energy.

 


Our strategy

Electric vehicle charging strategy (PDF 1.82mb)

Summary of the electric vehicle charging strategy (PDF 1.16mb)

Developed with district and borough councils. We aim to work together to deliver a more comprehensive, accessible and efficient EV charging network across Hertfordshire. If you need these documents in a different format, please contact us.

We've planned a hierarchy of charging options:

  1. Off-street charging hubs in council-owned car parks. Open to all and near town centres, so you can shop while you wait. Potential for overnight charging for nearby residents
  2. Off-street charging hubs on publicly owned land. 
    We're reviewing locations near residential areas and main roads, where there's a lack of current chargepoints and potentially high demand.
  3. On-street chargepoints. Where off-street options aren't possible or can't meet demand.
     

Timeline for roll-out


The government is offering us money from the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund (LEVI) to accelerate the roll-out of publicly available charging infrastructure.

  • We must complete an application form and provide a business case for the funding by 30 November 2023.
  • Once the government approves our funding application, they will give us 90% of our funding and we can begin looking for a contractor.
  • We must submit our draft contract to the government for review and approval by September 2024.
  • Once the government approves our draft contract, we can sign the contract and the government will give us the final 10% of our funding.

Our vision statement

The agreed draft vision statement for Hertfordshire’s EV charging network is:

To enable residents and businesses across Hertfordshire to recharge their vehicles conveniently, and appropriately. This will facilitate the conversion of vehicles to meet Hertfordshire’s climate and air quality commitments and prepare drivers for the phase out of new petrol and diesel cars and vans in 2030 when around 30% of the fleet is expected to be electric.


On-street charging points

We recognise that there's appetite from residents for on-street chargepoints near their homes, but there are more challenges to providing on street chargepoints so we have to carefully consider their locations. We are currently working with district and borough councils to:

  • identify locations where on-street charging may be appropriate
  • develop a process and set of rules to support installing chargers in these locations.
     

We can't provide on-street chargepoints for individuals.
 

If you find it difficult to access a chargepoint in your local area, let us know your postcode. We'll include your location in our mapping data, which we'll use to identify potential future chargepoint locations.

By clicking 'submit' you are confirming that you have read, understood and accepted our privacy notice.

Privacy notice >

Why we need your information

Hertfordshire County Council is the data controlled for this information. The EV team are collecting this information on behalf of the data controlled. The data on this form is being gathered for the purpose of ensuring that resident’s information (full postcodes) that is classed as ‘personnel identifiable data’ can be gathered and use to influence outcomes and better results for residents. 

This information is required to identify areas within the county as potential sites for the installation of electric vehicle charging infrastructure funded through the government LEVI grant. Hertfordshire County Council will use this information to identify where there may be areas of demand for electric vehicles and meet residents’ requirements for chargepoints. 

We consider that it is a legitimate interest of Hertfordshire County Council to gather and process this resident information for the purposes outlined above. 

There will be safeguards in place to ensure that this information to obtainable by the required stakeholders only and will not be shared with those without permission. 

The information will be shared with internal members of the EV team and internal stakeholder who operate the mapping tool. The information will feed into the mapping tool and be represented through a colour scheme (different shades in different areas of county) to external stakeholder therefore the specific postcode data will not be shared externally. If at any points this information will need to be shared external i.e. with a supplier, then it will be discussed with the data protection team first.

The information provided will be used alongside additional information to assist in the site identification process.

What we will do with your information

The information is required in order for us to fulfil our obligation under the local electric vehicle infrastructure funding scheme. It will assist us with meeting out responsibilities and objectives i.e growth & environment, transport. 

The information you give us will be held by the EV team with the Growth and Environment department of Hertfordshire County Council and will only be used to determine appropriate installation sites and will be used to outline initial future plans as required in the business case. 

We will not share this information with a third party or in order to deliver this service we will share your information with the relevant internal and external stakeholders:

- Highways

- Ringway (external)

- Potential EV infrastructure supplier (external)

- Within Growth & Environment outside the EV team such as data analysts 

The information will be in HCC secure EV mapping tool which require those who used it to have gone through a permission process. 

How long we will keep your information

The information that you supply to us will be kept on file for up to 5 years. The information will be kept for this period of time to ensure that the funding over the set 2 year period is spent through data driven decision and the information is kept for a further 3 years to ensure there is an up to date robust mapping tool showing real time infrastructure and demand. 

What are your rights?

Hertfordshire County Council will be the Data Controller for this information.

You have the following rights in relation to this data:

• You have the right to be informed about what information we hold about you and how we use it.

• You have the right to request copies of any information the Council holds about you by making a subject access request.

• If information we hold about you is factually inaccurate you have the right to have it corrected.

• You have the right to object to the way we are using your data.

• You have the right to request that your data is deleted. However we may be unable to delete your data if there is a need for us to keep it. In this case you will receive an explanation of why we need to keep the data.

• You can also request that we stop using your data while we consider a request to have it corrected or deleted. There may be some circumstances in which we are unable to do this however we will provide an explanation if this is the case.

• In certain circumstances you may also request data we hold about you in a format that allows it to be transferred to another organisation.

• In the event that decisions are taken using automated processes you have the right to request that these decisions are reviewed by a member of staff and to challenge these decisions.

If you would like to request copies of your data, request that your data is deleted or have any other queries in relation to data which the Council holds about you please contact the Data Protection Team. 

Data Protection Team 
Hertfordshire County Council
County Hall
Pegs Lane
Hertford
SG13 8DQ

Tel: 01992 588099

Email: data.protection@hertfordshire.gov.uk

You can also contact our Data Protection Officer at dataprotection.officer@hertfordshire.gov.uk or in writing to the address above.

If you are unhappy with the way that Hertfordshire County Council has used your data or with the way we have responded to a request you also have the right to contact the Information Commissioner’s Office www.ico.org.uk .

 

Our criteria for potential on-street chargepoints

We will consider installing on-street chargers where:

  • there are obvious gaps in existing provision and there is potential demand
  • residents do not have access to driveways or off-street parking
  • there are no nearby off street car parks
  • there are no existing publicly available chargepoints within approx. 5 mins walk or 400m.


Read our electric vehicle strategy for more rules and criteria for potential on-street chargepoints.

 

If you have a disabled parking space


If you have an electric vehicle and are finding it difficult to access a chargepoint, please email EVstrategy@hertfordshire.gov.uk with your details, including your postcode.

 

Charging from streetlights


We do allow electric vehicle charging from our streetlights, but it is difficult in Hertfordshire. Many of our streetlights are not suitable for charging as the columns are from older stock, so they:

  • do not have the space or electric capacity for chargers
  • are positioned at the back of footpaths.

We are working with district and borough councils to identify potential locations for on-street chargepoints and we'll also look at the potential for connections to streetlights where possible. This will depend on the type of light, its power supply, local grid capacity, local parking restrictions and the position of the lamp column.

 

 


Government grants


Grant schemes for charging points (GOV.UK) including:

  • Electric Vehicle Chargepoint Grant - up to 75% off the cost of installing a chargepoint at certain properties.
  • Workplace charging scheme - £350 per socket, for up to 40 chargepoints for your employees or fleet.


Plug-in vehicle grant (GOV.UK):
You don't need to apply - if you buy or lease an eligible vehicle, the car dealer should include it as a discount on the price.


Tax benefits for electric vehicles (GOV.UK):
Including Benefit in Kind, vehicle excise duty, salary sacrifice schemes and capital allowance.

 


Short-term hire - car clubs

Try before you buy with an electric vehicle car club.

Car club vehicles are parked in local charging bays for quick access. To hire one, simply unlock it with a mobile app, then drive away. You can pay by the minute, hour or day through the app. You'll get instructions on where to return it when you're done.

  • Ubeeqo - electric vehicle hire across Hertfordshire.
  • Enterprise - hybrid vehicle hire in Dacorum, East Hertfordshire, St Albans, Stevenage and Welwyn Hatfield.

 


Contact us

If you have any queries about our current position on the proposed EV charging network in Hertfordshire, email us:

EVstrategy@hertfordshire.gov.uk

 

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