HE2166 Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Project

Wiltshire is the sixth largest English county by area, with a population of 520k, living 53% in urban and 47% in rural areas. Residents rely heavily on private vehicle transport, with 85% household vehicle ownership, while 24% of residential buildings have on-street parking only.

In Jan ’26 Wiltshire hosted 611 public charging devices, while the latest DfT/Cenex modelling of future EV charging demand anticipates a requirement for 2761 AC chargers by 2030 (mid uptake projection). Wiltshire Council is seeking a CPO partner to rapidly scale up the county’s EV public charging offer, primarily to serve residents parking on-street and lack access to home charging.

A 15-year concession contract is offered to design, build, maintain and operate new public EV charging, supported by council investment of £3.889m LEVI capital funding. Contract development utilised GIS analysis, bespoke site selection methodology, LEVI support body advice, community input and feedback from soft market testing.

After a previous Market Engagement in August/September 2025 we have listened to market feedback and changed the contract to reduce risk and increase financial viability. The contract is now a single lot with differing requirements for urban and rural settlements.

The contract focuses on providing overnight EV charging within walking distance of residents properties, through the provision of on-street EV charging using standard AC devices. Installation sites are specified by target area, which are spatially defined by Lower Super Output Area (LSOA) in urban settings and by settlement boundaries for rural settings, allowing CPO expertise to identify specific locations for device installations.

Prioritised target area listings are identified for both urban and rural settings, combining sites focused to high commercial viability and those enabling social equity of charging provision. A range of charging device types must be available to install, which will be prioritised as follows: 1st) lamppost-based chargers; 2nd) bollard chargers; and 3rd) conservation friendly chargers.

This approach aims to maximise capital investment impact, whilst ensuring charging devices are available which fit local context. Target areas in rural settings identify where on-street charging will not be possible and indicate appropriate off-street install locations identified through community engagement.

Additionally, a number of rural settlements with key service amenities are required to host short dwell DC rapid charging, to serve both residents driving in from surrounding smaller villages and drivers on nearby strategic roads charging mid-journey. The identification of urban and rural target areas has been both data led and community informed.

Council officers have engaged with Wiltshire and parish councillors to build project awareness and incorporate community knowledge. This information is captured within the contract schedules, identifying target area community insights and key local contacts.

Contract financial arrangements are sympathetic to a CPO partners early project commitments. Tariffs are managed through a set margin cap. A concession fee is required to cover the council contract management costs from year 2, remaining in place until a set level of profitability is reached, at which point it is replaced by a revenue share for the council at a rate proposed by the bidding CPO.