Midlands charging point rollout could cost up to £800m
EXPANDING the network for electric vehicles in the West Midlands could cost as much as £800 million over the next ten years, it has been claimed.
That was the estimate in a report for the West Midlands Combined Authority’s (WMCA) Environment Board.
The authority claims ‘a modest cost estimate’ for the roll-out of electric vehicle charging points over the next 10 years ‘could be £200 million-£800 million’.
The Environment Board plans to discuss a West Midlands-wide approach.
The conversation comes in response to the need to make the transition to a zero carbon economy, something the WMCA aims to achieve by 2041 at the very latest,
Nationwide, it is predicted the number of rapid chargers located near the major roads network needs to expand to 1,170 by 2030 (from 460 in 2016), to meet demand for ‘top-up’ charging while parking around towns and local areas is estimated to require a rise from 2,700 chargepoints in 2016 to more than 27,000 by 2030.
In the West Midlands there are 1,450 chargepoints, which works out at 5.6 per cent of the UK total.
In its attempts to expand the network for electric vehicles, the WMCA has come up with a collaborative strategy which will see constituent authorities working together to ensure an even and cost-effective roll out of charging points.
The strategy will see “the creation of a collectively owned Delivery
Company (DelCo) that contracts with a private sector Operating Company (OpCo), which would deliver the charging infrastructure on-street and in publicly controlled off-street parking and other locations”.
It is believed that the WMCA could bid for funding from the Government Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund, with papers noting that as much as £200 million could be secured from this source, with an additional £200 million in private funding helping to get the project moving.