As electric vehicles become more widespread, local governments are investing in charging infrastructure to support their communities. While free parking at these locations incentivises EV adoption, could it be costing councils an important revenue stream?
EV owners often charge their vehicle at home or at work, but what about when they need to use a public charging point?
David Moore, Global Commercial Lead – Electric Vehicle Charging at EasyPark, explained that there’s an ongoing debate as to whether parking at council-provided public EV charging stations should be free.
“For councils there is a cost to install, maintain and ensure there’s an availability of public EV charging points, plus all the safety and compliance considerations,” Mr Moore said.
“Councils have to decide if they are prepared to ‘give away’ these parking spaces or if they need to recover their costs by seeking payment for parking as well as charging.
“It’s more expensive to supply two services than one, so not charging for both parking and EV charging means councils are increasing their overhead without increasing their income.”
Mr Moore said that given council budget pressures and the fact that they are also obligated to supply a range of other services to residents, it would seem sensible for them to charge for any new service they provide.
Incentivising EV adoption
Councils want to enhance the sustainability of their areas and communities to reach their environmental goals. Incentivising the use of non-internal combustion engine vehicles is an important step in the right direction.
Mr Moore said that to help drive adoption of EVs there needs to be as many incentives for EV drivers as possible.
“Free city centre parking for EVs is a great way to drive initial adoption, but as adoption grows, free EV parking might become problematic.
“Introducing and enforcing payment prevents the possibility of drivers abusing the system. For example, would a driver look to take advantage of what they consider to be free parking by leaving their car in the space for longer than it takes to charge their EV?
“Many Norwegian cities, as well as in Copenhagen and Aarhus in Denmark, have moved from a free EV parking model, to charging regular or discounted parking tariffs to improve mobility around city centres.
“Councils which are flexible, collaborative and can iterate on their plans over time, tend to be the ones with the most successful implementation of parking and charging strategies.”
Charging for parking without sacrificing public opinion
“Having a plan for urban mobility is key, and part of that plan needs to include the successful implementation of charging capabilities in cities in a way that works for both the city and residents. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to this, what works for one city doesn’t automatically apply to another.
“Whatever cities and councils decide to do, if the user experience is clunky, costly and unpleasant, then drivers simply will find alternative options. A vacant or an under-utilised parking and charging space is a waste of resources, so are charging spots which are filled up unnecessarily long if parking is free, so finding the sweet spot for both administrators and users is vital.”
Mr Moore said that he and the team at EasyPark believe that finding the best pathway forward requires extensive collaboration between councils, communities and parking service providers.
For more information, visit easypark.com.au
