Electric vehicle charging in Leeds

Find out where you can charge an electric vehicle (EV) and our plans for more charge points in Leeds.

We encourage drivers to consider switching to electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles as part of our transport strategy (PDF, 12.5MB) and climate action plan to reduce the harms of air pollution and cut our city’s carbon footprint.

Find an EV charge point

If you do not have private off-street parking, or you need to charge on-the-go, then you can top-up your vehicle using a public charge point.

There are hundreds of public charge points available across Leeds with many of these capable of connecting to multiple vehicles at once.

More information and independent advice about charging plug-in vehicles can be found on the Energy Saving Trust website.

Installing your own charge point

For most drivers, the cheapest and most convenient place to charge a plug-in vehicle is at home or at work. If you have off-street parking such as a private driveway, garden, or communal parking areas then you may be able to install an electric vehicle charge point at your premises.

Find out more about installing a charge point on the Energy Saving Trust website. external link.

Rules for public pavements and roads

If you do not have access to off-street parking then you will need to charge your vehicle using a public charge point.

If you live in a property with no driveway or access to off-street parking, like many back-to-back or terrace properties in Leeds, you cannot currently:

• run a cable across a public footpath at any height, on the ground or under the ground
• install a private (or reserved) charging point on a public footpath or highway
• connect to a lamppost
  

We regularly review these rules to balance the need for charging, the importance of public safety, and the visual appearance of the street.

What we are doing to make charging more convenient

We’re assisting with the installation of more plug-in vehicle charge points at various new locations across Leeds. We are also installing charge points at many council-run car parks.

Current policies

Local planning policy requires that most new developments with parking, both residential and non-residential, must install vehicle charge points.

We try to avoid locating charge points in places with poor lighting, visibility, or surveillance to deter crime and improve public safety.

Future policies

We are developing a new policy that will provide on-street charging to more users in Leeds.

We are also supporting work by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority to develop a regional strategy for increasing the number of public chargers. These are usually installed by commercial partners in locations where people already park such as supermarkets, car parks, leisure and retail settings, or in residential areas such as local car parks.

Find out more about our approach, read the Leeds Electric Vehicle Charge Infrastructure Strategy and Action Plan 2022 to 2030 (PDF, 507KB) external link.