Efforts to enhance the electric vehicle charging network across Staffordshire have been boosted by £5million of funding.
Staffordshire County Council is one of 13 local authorities and regional transport body, Midlands Connect, to successfully bid for money from the government.
The £39.3million Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure scheme is designed to help scale up the delivery of local charging points between 2024 and 2028.
Staffordshire County Council’s cabinet member for highways and transport, Cllr David Williams, said:
“It’s great news that our funding allocation to support the implementation of Staffordshire’s electric vehicle charging network has now been confirmed.
“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.
“Our partnership strategy has identified where the most appropriate places for charging points could be and how we will work with the private sector to facilitate successful delivery.
“We will 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 it’s vital that we have our local electric vehicle infrastructure in place as soon as possible.”
Cllr David Williams, Staffordshire County Council
Figures show 92,000 Staffordshire homes without off street parking are not within a convenient distance of a charging point.
Data also reveals that as of April this year there were just 336 public charging devices across the county.
But Staffordshire County Council hopes the funding boost will help accelerate that figure to 3,000 over the next seven years.
