Up to 500 EV charge points for Stoke-on-Trent
City Council secures £3m from Department for Transport’s Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) fund to help reduce pollution and improve air quality.
The funding comes in two phases. There’s £2,693,000 for the installation of a network of EV charge points across the city. There’s also £411,000 for extra resources to support the delivery of this programme. Some 500 charge points will be installed across Stoke-on-Trent between 2025 and 2029.
Photo by JCT600
What’s more, this award follows the £935,000 awarded to the city council and four other local authorities as part of a pilot project led by transport body Midlands Connect. This will see some 50 charge points installed across the city in 2024-25.
There are currently some 1,500 EVs in the city but less than 60 accessible charge points. With take-up of EVs expected to rise dramatically over the next few years, it’s been suggested that Stoke-on-Trent will need some 800 public charge points by 2030. The funding means the city is close to achieving that figure – though more will still need to be done.
Most of the new charge points will be located in residential areas where there is limited off-street parking for charging EVs. Of course, where off-street parking is available, privately owned charging is an option.
Cllr Amjid Wazir, Cabinet Member for City Pride, Enforcement and Sustainability, says: ‘Like most towns and cities, Stoke-on-Trent has poor air quality and road transport is a key contributor to that. Pollution can have a detrimental impact on the health of our residents, so we hope this scheme will benefit the environment as well as motorists and commuters.
‘We understand that not everyone wants, or chooses to use, electric vehicles but we also recognise that we need to improve the accessibility of charging points across the city, particularly for those without their own driveways.
‘We have received 100% funding for this programme so it will come at no additional cost to the taxpayer. Now we want to work with partners in the coming years to bring forward this scheme and make sure we are ready for our residents and businesses when they want to switch to electric vehicles.’
In related news:
Urgent action needed on black mass, European Commission told
Leave a Reply