Lobby Your MLA on NI’s EV Charging Network

Now that we have published our 6 steps for change, it’s time to get the message out to all of our political representatives.

A Few Clicks

You can email all your MLAs with a few clicks by visiting writetothem.com and entering your postcode. Then choose the ‘Write to all your MLAs’ link as shown below.

On the next page paste your letter into the box at the top, fill in your details and hit the PREVIEW & SEND green button.

Important

It’s important not to just cut and paste the letter template below in its entirety and the website warns – “Use your own words; we block copied-and-pasted identical messages“.

So use parts of the example below and add your own information – it’s especially important to give your MLA information that is relevant to their local area. So replace “XXXX LOCAL INFORMATION XXXX” with something that covers your experience, for example…

From my personal experience, there is just a single EV charger in Lisburn and it is often out of service. The single rapid charger at Sprucefield is totally inadequate for the population it serves here and drivers often have to queue for over an hour to get a charge.

If you can spend a little more time to help, then you can email your MLAs directly without using the WriteToThem website and then optionally attach some of the resources like the table and graph below to help them quickly visualise how bad things are here currently.

Here are email address for all our MLAs and phone numbers and postal addresses if you prefer.

---

Dear MLA

As an electric vehicle (EV) driver, and member of the NI Electric Vehicle Owners’ group (NIEVO) in Northern Ireland, I am writing to you in the hope that you can help bring about some much needed change to our public charging network here.

XXXX INSERT LOCAL INFORMATION HERE XXXX

EV sales have doubled in Northern Ireland over the past year and this growth will only accelerate as part of the Green Recovery. As you know the UK Government has announced the end of the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in the UK by 2030.

While the figure of 337 public chargers may seem laudable, the reality is that many of those installations are unserviceable at any point in time, often for extended periods. A recent survey carried out by NIEVO found that 83% say it’s difficult or very difficult to find a working charger, 88% say the network has got worse over time and 95% do not believe our network is fit for purpose. Perhaps most damning of all, the majority of EV drivers in Northern Ireland (58%) have considered a return to petrol or diesel due directly to issues with our public charging network.

This situation stands in stark contrast to those in GB and Irish Republic, in both of which there is significant progress being made towards making EV ownership a more attractive and practical proposition. In GB, for example, the private sector is able to provide first class and profitable charging facilities, such as the one recently opened by Gridserve in Braintree. In NI, such initiatives have not so far been possible, due to a combination of factors which all arise because our legislative and regulatory framework here is different, outdated and out of step with current UK Government policy. As a result, we are largely reliant for our supply of public charging points, on the ESB in the south.

We need immediate action to halt the steep decline in service from our network and to provide a system that is fit for purpose. The issue is not one solely for the Department of Infrastructure, though they are obviously in the lead on it. There are implications as well for the Departments of the Economy and Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, and perhaps others.

I would urge you to read this document which concisely conveys most of the issues at hand – tinyurl.com/nievo-6steps – and to do all in your power to accelerate our smooth transition to sustainable transport by helping find the funding to replace and expand our current crumbling public charging network.

Many thanks for your help with this matter.

Yours faithfully

---

Share Our 6 Step Manifesto

WEB LINK: 6 Steps NI Needs to Move Forward with EV Charging
PDF VERSION: right click to save

More Relevant Links

• The State of the ESB Public Charging Network
• Northern Ireland Bottom of the EV Charger League for UK
• NIE Networks Prepared to Install EV Chargers in NI
• NI Utility Regulator on Decarbonisation & Innovation
• Has Your NI Council Applied for OZEV Funding for On-Street Chargers?
• NI EV Drivers Public Charging Survey 2021 – The Results
• Data Snapshot of the NI Charging network for February 2021

Graph of UK Chargers per 100,000 Population (right click on graph to save)

Table of UK Chargers per 100,000 Population (right click on table to save)

Data Snapshot of the NI Charging Network for February 2021 (right click on graph to save)