Liberal Democrats press Ealing Labour to accelerate Electric Charging Transition more cheaply for residents

Not enough is being done on providing cheaper options for residents who want EV chargers say Ealing Liberal Democrats.

Councillor Gary Malcolm, Leader of the Opposition has been challenging Ealing Labour on whether they are really doing enough to support residents who have electric vehicles but do not have their own drive to park and charge their vehicles.

Gary Malcolm asked a key probing question at Council on Tuesday 21 October 2025. He wanted to clarify if Ealing Labour will be reversing their position on not implementing EV charging gullies to enable residents to access cheaper electricity to charge their cars.

Ealing Labour have instead favoured supplier paid on street points which have been implemented across the borough, which are a very expensive way to charging electric vehicles. This position by Ealing Labour is shocking given that residents are experiencing a horrendous cost of living crisis. Once, which will be accelerated further by high inflation in coming years as indicated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The Government Office for Zero Emission Vehicles’ has an electric vehicle (EV) pavement channels grant available for local authorities but Ealing Council seem to have not applied for this grant. The grant has a deadline of 31st October 2025. The deadline is before the much anticipated budget in Nov 2025.

Whilst the Liberal Democrats welcome the increased transition to electric charging, more needs to be done to make it a cost-effective option by enabling home charging where residents do not have a drive.

Councillor Gary Malcolm, Leader of the Opposition said: “Liberal Democrats say this shows Ealing Labour’s haphazard approach to encouraging more electric drivers. They have chosen an approach which is paid for by the suppliers who get their return by hiking the price for electricity supplied. There is a cheaper alternative, which is to enable more charging from household electricity and a grant is available from the government!

The Council needs to both take the benefit of the grant as well as allowing residents to power their EV vehicles from their homes through a wire across the pavement which has a cover that allows people to move along the pavement safely. Liberal Democrats want to see a more equitable approach which enables residents to have access to cheaper and fairer priced electricity to encourage uptake of green vehicles.”