The UK Government’s Road to Zero Strategy restricts the sale of fossil-fuelled cars from 2030. No new diesel and petrol cars can be sold from this date and no plug-in hybrid vehicles (using batteries and diesel or petrol) from 2035. Current predictions are that at least 1 in 5 cars on Oxfordshire’s roads will be fully electric by 2030.

Finding a public EV charge point in Oxfordshire

Find out where public EV charging points are in Oxfordshire and beyond using Zap Map. View a map and full details of Park and Charge fast EV charging hubs across Oxfordshire on the Park and Charge Oxfordshire website

Installing your own EV charger

Most people like to charge their electric vehicles at home or at their workplace, which is usually the cheapest option as you can use your own electricity supply (and renewables if you have them).

The Government’s EV Chargepoint Grant provides funding of up to 75% towards the cost of installing electric vehicle smart charge points at domestic properties across the UK.   The Government also offers a Workplace Charging Scheme that can help fund the installation of EV charge points at work.

Most EV chargers are considered as “Permitted development” and will not need planning permission. This is not always the case, however. If you live in a conservation area or a listed building, or if you don’t have a driveway, you should check with your Local Planning Authority (District Council) before you install.

If you don’t have a driveway or private off-street parking space

Around 30-40% of Oxfordshire residents may struggle to install home chargers because they don’t have a suitable parking space off the highway. The Oxfordshire Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy (pdf format, 4Mb) lists solutions that the councils are setting up or testing for residents in this situation. These include:

• EV Charging Hubs - located in local authority and private car parks, such as Park and Charge
• Pavement Gullies – to safely run EV cables through pavements from wall-mounted home chargers to kerbside. Currently being trialled and not publicly available until later in 2024 – please register your interest at www.gul-e.co.uk/.
• On-Street Chargers (such as bollard chargers or lamppost chargers) where other options are not suitable

Another option is to find a friendly neighbour who is willing to let you use their home charger.  Visit Co-Charger to see who is sharing their home charger near you.

EV charging cable crossing the pavement

You cannot place any electric vehicle charging cable across the pedestrian footway, even if it is covered by a cable cover or mat.

This is because a power cable running across the footway, even if covered, is a potential hazard. It can also make access more difficult for disabled and vulnerable groups. If an injury occurs, this might result in a liability claim for the homeowner or occupier and the authority.

We have a legal duty to ensure the safety of the highway in accordance with the Highways Act 1980 and the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Placing an obstruction such as a wire or cable across the highway in a way likely to cause danger is an offence under the Highways Act 1980. Any electrical equipment on the highway also must be certified and regularly tested as electrically safe.

Installing an EV charger or cable gully on the pavement

You cannot install a private charge point or a cable gully on the street outside your home. Only the council can authorise or install equipment on the pavement or the street.

If you feel that a cable gully would be the best solution for your home, you will be able to apply for these via the County Council soon. In the meantime, you can register your interest at www.gul-e.co.uk/.

You can also use this handy mapping tool to tell us where you would like to see EV charging hubs and roadside EV chargers in Oxfordshire. This will help inform our plans for future infrastructure delivery and ensure that it meets the needs of residents.

Increasing EV charging infrastructure in Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire County Council has worked on several innovative projects – supported by Innovate UK and funded by the government’s Office for Zero Emissions Vehicles (OZEV) – to make EV charging more available in Oxfordshire and help more people go electric:

Park and Charge Oxfordshire is a £5.4million project which has install 20 “hubs” of fast EV charging points in District Council car parks across Oxfordshire. Located in towns and villages where many residents lack off-street parking, these hubs can provide overnight charging facilities – with free parking – to nearby residents, as well as top-up charging to visitors and commuters during the daytime."

OxGul-e is testing a low-tech solution that allows residents without a driveway to safely charge their car on the street outside their home using their home power supply. The Gul-e is a simple channel installed in the pavement that allows a cable to be safely connected between a wall-mounted charger and an EV at the kerbside. Volunteers in Oxford City and Cherwell have been testing this approach in 2022

DoorSTEP  is testing a different solution for people without driveways. It also uses the resident’s own energy supply and allows residents to share their EV charger with their neighbours. An EV charger is embedded flush into the pavement and is accessed via a “lance” into which the EV can be plugged. Volunteers in West Oxfordshire, South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse and have been testing this approach in 2022

Oxfordshire is set to receive an allocation of £3.6million funding from central government's Local EV Infrastructure (LEVI) fund this year and is currently making plans for how this will be spent to increase access to public EV charging right across Oxfordshire in the coming years. Look out for press releases with more details coming soon.