Local authorities continue to invest in EV charging infrastructure

Local authorities continue to invest in electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure with South Derbyshire, Brighton & Hove and Stirling councils all recently installing either rapid or taxi charging points.

In Brighton & Hove, the city’s electric vehicle infrastructure is continuing to grow with the introduction of three new rapid charging hubs, with a fourth at Brighton Racecourse to be installed later in the year.

The hubs are designed for Brighton & Hove’s fleet of taxis, but two bays at each hub can be used by any electric vehicle owner until such time that taxi uptake requires all the bays.

A rapid charger can fully charge an electric vehicle in as little as 30 minutes. Both rapid hubs and residential chargers cost 27p per kWh and are powered by 100% renewable energy.

The new rapid charging hubs are in addition to the 207 on-street charging points installed across the city last year.

CEO of EB Charging, Dan O’Hara, said: “We’ve been working closely with Brighton & Hove City Council for over a year to make electric charging points more accessible across the city and encourage more drivers to switch to cleaner, more sustainable electric vehicles.

“As a council, they’re leading the way in providing easily accessible chargers in a densely populated city, where space and parking is in high demand.

“These four new rapid chargers designed with the long-term goal of charging taxis are another great step in ensuring more journeys across the city will be electric in the future, and to improve air quality across the city for everyone.”

In Scotland, Stirling’s taxis are amping up their service to customers thanks to the region’s first dedicated EV taxi charging point. The taxi EV charging bay is among 14 new charging points that have just gone live in Forthside, complementing the nine existing bays already available.

Funding for the new chargers was provided by the Scottish Government through Transport Scotland as part of their Electric A9 project, Scotland’s longest electric vehicle ready route.

The EV chargers at the Forthside Hub are provided by SWARCO eVolt.

Managing Director of SWARCO eVolt, Justin Meyer, said: “We are proud to be part of the continued development of Forthside, which is not only supporting the local community and its visitors but also helping to build the Electric A9 and supporting sustainable transport in Scotland.

“The new EV chargers will undoubtedly support local taxi drivers and operators and encourage more to make the switch to electric, decarbonising more journeys.”

In South Derbyshire the council has just overseen the installation of 16 new electric vehicle fast charging points.

These charging points are operated as part of the region’s electric vehicle charging network, which aims to make a charging system accessible to all residents across Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.

Councillor Steve Taylor, Chairman of South Derbyshire District Council’s Environmental and Development Services Committee, said: “We are hoping these new charging points will encourage more local people to make the switch to an electric vehicle – especially residents who are not able to charge a vehicle at home.

“In addition to the environmental benefits of an electric car, the fuel cost savings are significant, and we are looking forward to the new charging points being in big demand.”

Image: Shutterstock

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