Context
The London Borough of Waltham Forest is an outer London Borough. It is home to over 257,000 residents and over 11,000 registered businesses.
Waltham Forest has deployed over 159 charge points (as of March 2024) and are considered early leaders in deploying Electric Vehicle (EV) infrastructure. EV ownership in Waltham Forest is growing quickly and the council is working to ensure that it is as convenient as possible to transition to an EV. By continuing to increase the number of charge points, the local authority is able to influence behaviour change, moving an increasing number of residents away from petrol and diesel cars and towards electric.
The need for EV charging infrastructure
Using our dedicated Geographical Information System (GIS) tool to collect and analyse data on all relevant factors (e.g., housing types, car registrations and demographics), our expert in-house planning team estimated that the Borough of Waltham Forest needs at least 2393 fast on-street charging points by the end of 2030, to support residents, businesses and visitors in the Borough.
Our method: Smart Planning
The first stage in our modelling involved forecasting electric vehicle uptake in Lower Super Output Areas (LSOAs). This was done with our innovative Geographical Information System (GIS) tool that enabled us to identify the areas with the highest need for EV charging infrastructure. We assessed the location suitability, the overlay of socio-demographic characteristics, housing type, forecast of electric vehicle uptake, grid constraints and infrastructure costs.
Using the GIS tool, we proceeded to categorise the LSOA based on their Local Level of Activation (LLOA), which aggregates the present demand for EV infrastructure with projections of future demand, so that our team could deliver bespoke, future proof and scalable EV charging solutions made to suit the local community.
Outcome and future deployment
We worked with the local authority to select over 96 sites providing capacity for 317 sockets. So far, we have installed over 317 sockets across the borough.
Believ will continue to work with Waltham Forest to monitor the utilisation of the existing charging points and to strengthen the network with new charge point installations, based on growing demand.
