Cumbria County Council is backing the drive towards greener transport by installing additional charging points for electric vehicles in the county. A total of 30 new charging points will be installed, representing the single largest public investment in charging infrastructure in the county to date. The new charging points will be located at five Council-owned sites in the county:
The County Council is investing £250,000 in the project, which will significantly expand the Council’s existing network of charging points around the county. In addition to the 30 charging points, power supplies to each site will be upgraded, with expansion potential created for up to a further 162 charging points. The new charging points, which will be installed from June 2021, will be available for public use 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. New charging points in Cumbria will support the transition to low emission Electric Vehicles (EVs). In the UK as a whole, EV adoption is predicted to rapidly increase with approximately 20% of all new car registrations in the UK as of April 2021 being electric and predicted new vehicle sales growing to 75% by 2030, when sales of new petrol and diesel vehicles will be phased out. Cllr David Southward, Cumbria County Council Cabinet member for Property, said: “The County Council is committed to making Cumbria carbon neutral. I very much welcome this significant expansion of the EV charging points network in Cumbria, which will support the transition towards greater use of low emission vehicles.” Cllr Peter Thornton, Deputy Leader of Cumbria County Council and Cabinet Member for Finance, said: “I’m absolutely delighted the County Council is leading the way with this initiative which is intended to be self-funding. It will create a further 30 charging points with the potential for a further 162 to come on stream in future. It’s essential that Cumbria has a robust network of charging points which provide a low carbon transport solution. I’m sure this project will help open up the county to more electric vehicle drivers and make a real difference, both in Cumbria and nationally.” |
As wider society transitions towards a greater use of electric vehicles (‘EV’s) it is necessary to invest in physical charging infrastructure. UK EV adoption is predicted to rapidly increase from 3% of new vehicle sales in 2019 to 75% by 2030.
There are currently 213 public charging locations within Cumbria. By 2022 it is estimated that 581 public EVCPs will be required within Cumbria. The proposed project will help to facilitate the achievement of the 2022 requirement.