Plans to improve the electric vehicle charging network across Staffordshire will be discussed by councillors.
With the sales of new petrol and diesel cars restricted from 2030 and new hybrid vehicles from 2035, Staffordshire County Council has drawn up a strategy which will see work with other authorities, private providers and the energy sector.
It will look to outline ways to increase things such as rapid charging hubs, fuelling forecourts and points in residential properties and in on street parking bays.
In October last year, there were 300 public charge points in Staffordshire – the strategy sets out plans to grow this to 3,000 over the next seven years.
Staffordshire County Council’s cabinet member for highways and transport, Cllr David Williams, said:
“The UK is already embarking on the transition towards electric vehicle use which is good news in terms of our combined efforts to reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality.
“As national legislation draws nearer it’s important that we take steps to enable the right infrastructure is in place across the county.
“We have an important role to play, working with our district and borough colleagues, to determine what this will look like based on the evidence gathered.
“Our strategy helps us to identify where the most appropriate places for charging points could be and how we will work with the private sector to facilitate successful delivery. We can work with businesses to encourage workplace charging and residents to support off-street charging, in addition to people and organisations making planning applications.
“We understand that electricity may not be the only type of alternative power for vehicles in future years, but this strategy needs to focus on national policy. We anticipate funding will shortly become available from the Government to support our work to put the strategy in place.”
Cllr David Williams, Staffordshire County Council
The strategy details commuting routes, places of interest – including workplaces and leisure venues – where power is available and suggests suitable charging point locations.
In addition, it outlines how the councils should encourage the installation of charge points at workplaces, retail parks and car parks.
The strategy will be presented to members of the county council’s cabinet on 18th January.
This is a no brainer for Lichfield. It won’t cost the council a penny and will actually make them money. If a charge company want chargers at a location, then they will pay for the installation and maintenance themselves and they will even pay the council to rent the land. Having more EV chargers will encourage more EV owners to stay in Lichfield for longer using the local shops and facilities. It’s win win for everyone.
The installation of a decent network of charging points can’t come soon enough. However, that is only part of the solution for future transport needs.
We currently have woefully inadequate provision for cyclists and pedestrians (including the lack of a completed footpath along the A5190 between Burntwood and Lichfield), and tax payers money has been wasted on cycle paths that are not fit for purpose.
There is also a lack of commitment to decent public transport. Tickets are not transferable between bus companies, and so a return ticket bought on, for example, a National Express bus cannot be used on a Chaserider bus. To say nothing of the risk that the bus station will be moved from its position opposite the train station.
I welcome a transport strategy to address the issue of charging infrastructure, but I hope this can be looked at in the wider context. Sustainable transport strategy is about more than just private cars.
After the luddites at LDC turned down an application for one last year as they were unsure of the demand 🤷♂️🤦♂️ maybe SCC can actually make them see some sense. Currently don’t have a BEV but only know of public chargers at Coop in Boley Park and Tesco which are always occupied. The infrastructure needs to be much better as we approach 2030 and demand soars.
Oh , well said, and spot on, Clare Sholl !
Clare Sholl is quite correct. The changeover to electric cars will do nothing for the problem of road congestion, which is surely a real issue for most people. What is needed is a joined up solution that includes active travel, but this has not been addressed in any meaningful way so far. We need a consistent network of paths for cyclists and walkers, and a joined up public transport system, if we are ever going to tackle this problem. There are also practical problems for electric car usage. Much of our housing stock will not be suitable for home chargers, and we will need a lot more electricity generating capacity to power the sheer number of charging points. Where is this extra power to come from, when wind turbines and solar cell arrays face so much opposition?
Great. We’ve had our EV for two years and there are not enough chargers for the increased number of EVs. Long journeys are becoming difficult with queues to recharge or broken chargers.