Five local authorities in the Midlands are set to install electric vehicle (EV) chargers in areas with limited off-street parking, courtesy of almost £1 million in government funding.
The bid, launched in June 2022, aims to deliver “hundreds” of new EV charging sites across the Midlands in order to support the integration of clean vehicles to the UK’s roads. This comes with the impending internal combustion engine ban coming into force from 2030.
Lincolnshire County Council, Herefordshire Council, Leicestershire County Council, Rutland County Council, and Stoke-on-Trent City Council – alongside Sub-National Transport Body Midlands Connect, submitted the bid resulting in a share of £935,355 set to be distributed between the five councils.
“I’m delighted that this successful bid means that we will be able to offer more electric charging facilities across the county which will support our residents and business to make the shift to ultra-low emission vehicles as part our strong commitment to addressing the climate and ecological emergency,” said Councillor John Harrington, cabinet member for infrastructure and transport.
According to Herefordshire Council, it is expected that the funding from the government will now attract an additional £2.8 million of private sector investment, with the cumulative funds being used to install a total of 322 standard and 27 rapid public EV chargers across the Midlands.
The new funding comes off the back of a recent £20 million government-backed pilot scheme that is aiming to support the growth of the EV industry with the development of 1,000 new public chargepoints.
The pilot is part of the £450 million Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) scheme, and will pool the collective knowledge of industry experts and local authorities to develop commercial EV charging infrastructure for residents across nine counties in the UK.
This includes Barnet, Dorset, Durham, Kent, Midlands Connect (with Lincolnshire as a lead authority), North Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Suffolk and Warrington.
Oxford also became home to Europe’s “most powerful” EV charging hub with 42 fast and ultra-rapid chargers, developed by Pivot Power.
Developed as part of the Energy Superhub Oxford project, the hub located at Redbridge Park and Ride could scale up to provide charging for 400 vehicles as EV adoption increases.
