Cheshire East Council has secured government grant funding to provide electric vehicle recharging points for local road users.
The grant funding from the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (Olev) will enable the Council to provide six 50kV rapid charging units – two of which will be in the Sainsbury's car park off South Drive, where parent's parking spaces are currently located. The others will be in Princess Street car park in Congleton and Love Lane in Nantwich.
The units will be operated by a third party and can recharge a vehicle from 'empty' up to 80% charge in 20 minutes. The sites have been chosen as they are close to destination points such as supermarkets and coffee shops, where drivers can pass 20 minutes or so while waiting for their vehicle to charge.
Council Leader Michael Jones said: "This is good news for the environment and for encouraging modern, greener transport to flourish. It is also about thinking and acting innovatively – and about putting our local residents first and tackling issues at their root.
"This project allows residents to take up new ultra-low-emission vehicle technology with assurance that they will be able to recharge when away from home if needed. It's also a step towards cleaner air in our Borough."
Councillor Rod Menlove said "Electric or plug-in hybrid motoring is an exciting development and it is good to see our council at the forefront of providing the necessary infrastructure."
The number of electric vehicles in the UK has risen in the last two years from 3,500 in 2013 to 15,500 in 2014 and the expectation is for that figure to keep on growing.
There are already 563 publicly-funded rapid charge points in the UK – and these are the first in Cheshire East.
The Council also secured funding for five 7kV 'fast charging' units. These will primarily be installed on Council-owned sites to enable the authority to begin using EVs in its own fleet. They have been installed at Macclesfield Town Hall, the Council's HQ at Westfields, Sandbach and Delamere House, Crewe.
There are also two fast chargers in the Library car park in Crewe and these will be made available to the public in due course.
Comments
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I understand those bays were chosen because they are closest to the sub station and therefore involved the least cost and didn't require the car park to be dug up for cables.
These charging points are up and running now and whilst I am an EV driver and work in Wilmslow i thought I’d find out how much it costs. I found that the charging points are operated by a private company called Enegie. They are charging an extortionate amount of money to charge electric vehicles. It would cost me £8.33 +VAT to charge my car full (80miles) which is comparable to the price of petrol in an none economical car... and to top it off the council expect you to pay the usual parking fees on top.
Absolute joke, they are using public funding to put money into private hands.
Greater Manchester own all their electrical charging points in the city, you pay a £10 annual fee and all charging is free to use.
Shame on you Cheshire Council, you have just made 4 parking bays right in the town centre completely none useful, because any EV would be out of their mind to use them.
Just to put this in perspective: London Westminster charge £5 per month to
charge and parking is free (Londons city centre!!)
A spokesperson from Cheshire East Council said:
"The Charging units in Cheshire East (6 Rapid EV charging units) are located in Wilmslow (South Drive), Nantwich (Love Lane), Congleton (Princess Street). The units were funded 75% from a Government Grant, and 25% to be invested by Engenie. The Council is not funding any of these units, and has simply facilitated the installations within Cheshire East.
"For EV cars parked in the bays, AND charging, there will be FREE parking (subject to 90 minutes maximum stay). This is designed to encourage EV users to occupy the bays but not to block the bays up all day thereby preventing other users from accessing the charging units. Signage will be erected shortly to that effect.
"The Government expects 97% of EV charging to be done at home, and that in the long term public infrastructure would be used as an emergency only or to extend range. There are a number of EV users who utilise “free” public charging for all of their EV charging. This financial model would clearly not be sustainable in the long term. The “Rapid” charging units we have installed are designed to provide an emergency top up or to facilitate journeys normally outside the range of the vehicle. They charge a vehicle to 80% capacity in as little as 20 minutes compared to “fast” charging units which can take as long as 4 hours. The Fast units would not be a practical option to facilitate longer journeys, and are designed for areas where people park for the majority of the day (e.g. workplace charging).
"There are only 3 Rapid charging units in Greater Manchester (Salford Infirmary, Etihad and the University). The remainder of their units are of the Fast type and whilst “free” to the end user, the electricity bill is picked up by GMPTE.
"The tariff charged is a matter for Engenie and is a commercial decision for them. The Council is not able to comment on their pricing policy."