The Department of Urban Planning of Valencia City Council has begun a review of its urban planning regulations to adapt land use to the needs of electromobility.
According to a preliminary draft, it is proposed that slow charging points will never be located below the first basement, while high-power charging points will be banned in hotels, tourist accommodation and residential buildings.
In this context, Wojtek Siudzinski, CEO of Gaia Charge and president of the Valencian Electric Vehicle Association (AVVE), explains to Mobility Portal España that the regulations make sense in certain aspects:
“The proposed capacity limitations make sense, because high-power chargers are not typically installed in hotels, tourist accommodation and residential buildings.”
This is because in such locations, high-speed equipment has limited use.
“In a shopping centre, for example, with a 150 kW device the car charges faster than customers make their purchases,” he explains.
This generates revenue for the charging network, but does not add value for the shopping centre.
He adds: “The same applies to hotels: a fast charger will attract users who will not necessarily be staying there.”
Regarding the second measure contemplated in the regulation, he warns: “It would be advisable to review the limitation of installing slow charging only on the ground floor, as it could hinder the development of electric mobility.”
One of the aspects that motivates drivers to purchase an electric vehicle is having the possibility of charging it from home.
According to the president of AVVE, most, if not all, residential parking lots are underground.
Such regulations could force users to rely exclusively on public infrastructure, “which is more expensive.”
This measure could also respond to problems arising from the DANA.
“In the park next to Ikea, Iberdrola installed ten rapid charging points and Acciona installed four rapid charging points and 32 semi-rapid charging points in the basement,” Siudzinski begins.
And he points out: “After the DANA, everything was under water.”
In this regard, he points out that, although he does not know the exact cost of these losses, he understands the City Council’s intention to prevent these situations from happening again.
This would justify the decision to ban installations in basements, especially in flood-prone areas.
The regulation classifies charging services into three main categories: basic (up to 8 kW), slow (between 8 and 22 kW) and high power (more than 22 kW).
This last group includes both alternating and direct current chargers, with subdivisions into powers lower and higher than 250 kW.
In principle, they can be installed throughout the city, but with some of the compatibility limitations mentioned above.
Could it affect chargers already installed?
Although there is still no concrete response from the City Council, Siudzinski clarifies that regulations are rarely retroactive.
“I don’t think that the existing basement points have to be eliminated, but I do think that it will affect new installations, which will have to comply with these rules,” he says.
It is worth mentioning that AVVE is arranging a meeting with the City Council to “discuss the proposed changes and find the best solution.”
