September 2023
Welcome to your quarterly members’ e-news! We have more updates to bring you including another radio appearance, more Consultation responses, and ongoing EVA Cymru activities. As well as the regular features on new charging station sites/units and upcoming events.
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Membership
Firstly, whether you are a new member or been with us from the start, thank you for your support. We will be coming up on one year since the very first meeting we had to discuss the possibility of EVA Cymru and since then we have been able to make an impact and build relationships. We are keen to grow our membership as much as possible to make sure that we can represent as many EV drivers as possible - so please send this newsletter on to other people who might be interested. The more members we have, the more power we have in discussions in the policy/decision making process. To register a new interest in membership please complete the form here.
Please also follow us on Twitter at @EVACymru , Facebook at EVA Cymru | Facebook, and LinkedIn at evacymru, and re-post if you can to help us reach even more people. As always, you can find out more about who we are, our purpose and see more content and resources on our website at eva.cymru.
We offer two levels of Individual Membership:
FREE Associate Membership
This gives you access to most EVA Cymru events, information, and our regular information emails.
FULL Membership
For just £10 you can become a full member of EVA Cymru which gives you all the benefits of an Associate Member as well as Full Member benefits such as Member Discounts, exclusive events and access to corporate member programmes. You will also be directly supporting our work and will be able to vote at our AGM to set the direction and strategy of EVA Cymru.
We also offer CORPORATE Membership to companies who want to support EV development in Wales. If you would like to discuss Corporate Membership, please Contact us.
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Consultation Responses & Senedd News
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In early June, the Senedd debated a review of progress against the Wales EV Strategy, which showed support for EVs across the chamber. You can watch the debate online here, but important points raised include:
- Ongoing importance & relevance of the strategy itself.
- Need for clear messaging from WG to show there is real commitment to the EV transition & encourage investment.
- Important role of the private sector in delivering & running infrastructure.
- Need for local government to focus on solving on-street parking challenges
- Collaboration and co-ordination to make sure infrastructure is at the right quantity in the right places
- Importance of EVs as part of decarbonisation, alongside other modal changes
We also read with great interest the new National Standards for EV Charging Infrastructure for Wales, published in early July. More good news followed in August with Visit Wales funding 7 new projects which will bring EV charging to Tourism areas, opening more of Wales to EV Drivers, read more.
Also in August, we responded to a Welsh Government consultation looking to exempt renewable energy and EV charge point equipment from business rates from April 2024. In support, we highlighted the following key points in our response below.
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Finally, in Wales we have provided input to the Senedd Environment and Climate Change Committee on their review of priorities for the next three years, focusing on the need to continue to scrutinise Electric Vehicle infrastructure and policy actions, and at UK level we have responded to the Lords Environment and Climate change Committee call for evidence for their inquiry into electric vehicles. This will be an opportunity for us to put the needs of Welsh electric vehicle drivers, and the devolved levers that need to be used, on the Westminster agenda. Watch out for more news on that later in the year.
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Other News
On July 25th we were again invited to talk on BBC Radio Cymru with Jason Mohammad about EVs, charging infrastructure, and the 2030 ban on new sales of combustion engine only cars. Our director of communications Paul Martin spoke positively about EVs, gave some numbers on charging stations, and stated our position in agreement with the policy.
In August, we were at the Eisteddfod held in Boduan on the Llyn peninsula, to talk EVs in Wales. It was great to see lots of EVs parked up, and chances to chat about local energy, fleet decarb, charging infrastructure and the importance of electric cars to rural areas. Such a great event in Wales!
We are also in the process of contacting the relevant representatives of every County Council Authority in Wales to discuss the Welsh Government’s Ultra Low Emission Vehicle Transformation Fund, and the opportunities for ourselves and our members to support the delivery of the project which we hope will bring significant benefits to EV drivers in Wales, driving and supporting the transition away from polluting vehicles and accelerating Wales’ journey to net zero.
We have been reading with interest ‘Standing Still’ – a report by the RAC Foundation on analysis of how long cars are parked and where, raising the opportunity and availability for ‘off-street charging’ of electric vehicles. We were surprised to find that, according to this report, Wales has the highest percentage of households that have or could have off-street parking in the UK at 75%, compared to England 68%, London just 44%, and Scotland 63%. Not only that, but ‘the average car or van in England is driven just 4% of the time, for the rest our vehicles are either parked at home (73%) or parked elsewhere (23%), for example at work.’ Read the Report
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At the end of July, there were 1926 charge points in Wales according to data by Zap-map, with another four in August from the Llanelli Instavolts adding to this total. As you may have seen on our social media platforms there have been 37 new installations of rapid chargers throughout the country since the last newsletter. Notably, the chargers that were removed from the EuroGarages sites on the A55 have now been replaced with Fuuse chargers.
The latest Rapid-charger installation sites are:
- GENIEPOINT:
Premier Inn Cardiff West, Cardiff, CF5 6DD. 2 Rapid 50 kW.
- SWARCO E-CONNECT:
Church Street Car Park, Welshpool, SY21 7DD. 2 Rapid 50 kW.
Green Lane Car Park, Corwen, LL21 0DD. 2 Rapid 50 kW.
- EVYVE:
Man of Gwent, Newport, NP19 9EZ. 1 Rapid 75 kW.
- FUUSE:
National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, SY23 3BU. 10 Rapid 50 kW.
(Also, 30 Fast 22 kW)
EuroGarages Bangor, Llandygai, LL57 4BG. 1 Rapid 50 kW.
EuroGarages Kinmel Park A55 East, Bodelwyddan, LL18 5XE. 2 Rapid 50 kW.
EuroGarages Kinmel Park A55 West, Bodelwyddan, LL18 5XW. 2 Rapid 50 kW.
EuroGarages Singing Kettle A55, Holywell, CH8 8RF. 1 Rapid 50 kW.
- MONTA:
EVPS Ltd, Llangollen LL20 8AG. 2 Rapid 150 kW.
- OSPREY:
Clwyd Retail Park, Rhyl, LL18 2TJ. 3 Rapid 50 kW.
The Piercefield Chepstow, Chepstow, NP16 6EJ. 3 Rapid 50 kW.
- INSTAVOLT:
Dafen Trade Park, Llanelli, SA14 8ND. 4 Rapid 150 kW.
Darwin Escapes, Conwy, LL32 8GA. 2 Rapid 150 kW.
If you know of any news regarding latest locations of installations, and occasionally removal, and on-going issues of major charging infrastructure, please let us know so we can be as informed as possible, thanks. Contact us
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There are no events that we are aware of in Wales. However, at Castle Combe Circuit on 3rd October, Tesla Owners UK are holding an EV only track day, open to all EVs not just Tesla. The track is open for two sessions between 9am and 5pm. You can find more information and book your tickets here.
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The Stop burning stuff campaign are holding a launch event on 19th September at the QE2 Conference Centre in London, and you can book tickets and find out more here. If you have not come across this already through other channels, this is a collaboration between Robert Llewellyn’s Fully Charged Show and Quentin Wilson’s Faircharge, to combat the fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) about electric vehicles spread in the mainstream media. They have a Patreon page where you can support the campaign here. You can also watch the YouTube launch video here.
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That is all for now, you are right up to date for this quarter.
Thank you for your support!
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