More electric vehicle charging points for Newport
Posted on Monday 30th September 2019
Newport is set to have up to 16 additional charging points across the city thanks to funding.
Gwent local authorities have been awarded £459,000 from the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) to install electric vehicle charge points in car parks in residential areas.
Thanks to the funding the five local authorities (Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport and Torfaen) will work to install electric vehicle charging infrastructure across local authority car parks in Gwent.
Councillor Roger Jeavons, Cabinet Member for City Services, said: “We are very grateful for this funding that will now allow us to extend the availability of charging points in Newport and support our wider ambitions to create a healthier and greener environment.
“As a council we have introduced electric vehicles into our fleet and hope that having more charging points both in Newport and across Gwent will encourage residents to also make the move to more sustainable vehicle options.”
The electric vehicle charge points will be installed in car parks near residential areas to support residents without off street parking switching to electric vehicles. Further details on the locations will follow.
The aim is to address barriers to residential electric vehicle take-up caused by having no dedicated off street parking (i.e. no drive way or garage where an electric vehicle could be charged).
Car park locations in Newport are currently being identified and subject to the appointment of contractors, the new points should be live in Spring 2020.
The joint bid was put together by the authorities aided by the Energy Saving Trust. The project has also been supported financially by the Welsh Government and Natural Resources Wales who funded a feasibility study.