W hen Alison Williams bought her electric Volkswagen ID.3 two years ago, she thought she was making the right choice for the environment, having already upgraded her end-of-terrace London home with insulation and solar panels.

However, charging the car has proved more costly than she hoped, as she is not able to install the cross-pavement gully – a narrow electric vehicle cable channel embedded in the pavement – that she would need to charge at home. That will remain the case despite a change in the law.

From Wednesday, drivers in England who do not have off-street parking will no longer need to get planning permission to put in a pavement gully outside their home.

The gullies sit flush within the pavement and allow an EV charging cable to reach a parked vehicle without creating a trip hazard.

The EV charging cables reach parked vehicles through a gully in the pavement, so there is no trip hazard.…