UK: Brighton to get 200 new charging points
The Brighton & Hove City Council has announced the installation of more than 200 new EV charging points over the next few months.
Following a tender process, the council has appointed Electric Blue to install and maintain the 207 new electric vehicle charge points. Most of which will be installed on lamp posts by January next year.
The project has been funded with £300,000 from the Office of Low Emissions, and £100,000 from Electric Blue. The aim is to place the points in areas with high parking demands. This is in coordination with the council’s proposal to introduce mandatory charging spaces in areas with high demand.
Councillor Anne Pissaridou, chair of the environment, transport and sustainability committee said: “Many drivers have told us that they would consider buying an electric vehicle, but have been deterred by the lack of street charging points. We hope that the introduction of these new lamp post chargers will make electric vehicles more attractive for motorists, and help us to continue our work to reduce pollution and improve air quality in the city.”
Electric Blue also has the task of providing four taxi fast charging hubs following the council’s successful bid for £468,000 of Office for Low Emissions Vehicles (OLEV) funding. The remaining 25% of costs (£117,000) will be covered by Electric Blue. The hubs will include at least three charging points capable of charging taxis in less than 30 minutes.
The council has also been awarded £86,265 research funding from Innovate UK to a trial of smart network extenders. These should increase the number of vehicles that can be charged at each point.
Alex Calnan, Electric Blue’s Managing Director, said: “Brighton & Hove is widely perceived as the country’s green-thinking capital, and we are thrilled to join them on this venture.” Brighton’s pretty coastline brings a significant number of visitors to the area that is also quite close to London. Now there are even more reasons to visit.
3 Comments