The Royal Borough has successfully secured nearly £1 million from the Department for Transport to accelerate the rollout of electric vehicle (EV) chargepoint infrastructure.
The investment aims to facilitate the installation of hundreds of on-street charging points and sockets in council car parks, ensuring convenient and accessible charging infrastructure for residents as EV adoption continues to rise in the borough.
This investment, sourced from the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Capital Fund, will be used to incentivise private investment in chargepoint delivery across the region through a future public-private partnership with chargepoint operating companies.
Councillor Geoff Hill, Cabinet Member for highways and transport, said: “In our borough, 33% of carbon emissions come from the vehicles on our roads and switching the way we power our cars and vans is vital.
“There are approximately 4,000 electric cars in the borough today and this number is growing exponentially. By 2035, it is anticipated that there will be 50,000 electric cars in the borough.
“To meet this demand, the borough will need to have introduced hundreds of on-street charging sockets and sockets in council car parks across the borough. We want EVs to be a convenient and viable way to travel in the borough and, increasingly, residents are expecting to find charging infrastructure available in the borough.”
