25.09.19
UK Government to give Welsh councils a boost for electric vehicles
Nine local authorities in Wales will receive UK Government funding to allow the installation of charging points in car parks and residential areas.
The UK Government’s Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) is set to give five councils in Gwent £458,724.50 this year in order to install 73 charge points with 146 individual sockets.
The five recipients are Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport and Torfaen.
Cardiff, Carmarthenshire, Powys and Swansea councils have also applied for thousands in funding and are waiting for specific amounts to be confirmed.
Charging at home isn’t always an option for plug-in owners, and many areas in the UK don’t have the facilities to charge their electric vehicles in residential areas due to lack of off-street parking.
With all local councils trying to hit their climate change goals, which includes netting zero emissions, the funding is to ensure that electrical vehicles are affordable and accessible options and increase their popularity throughout the UK.
51 local authorities applied for funding receiving almost £1.4m and 700 charge points were installed between April 2017 and March 2019.
Secretary of state for Transport, Grant Shapps, doubled the funding available through the on-street residential charge points scheme for 2019/20 by £2.5m.
Secretary of state for Wales, Alun Cairns, said:
“The next few decades will be transformative for our transport industry and therefore it is vital that electric vehicle drivers feel confident about the availability of charge points near their homes and along their journeys.”
“Greater availability of charge points will also encourage a shift towards greener transport, bringing significant environmental benefits with it.”