Call for new electric car charge points

THERE are more electric vehicle charging points in the city of Westminster than there are in the entire West Midlands, it has been revealed.

Data published by the Department for Transport (DfT) showed that Westminster has 570 public charging devices in total, whereas there were just 455 across Birmingham, Coventry, Sandwell, Solihull, Dudley, Wolverhampton and Walsall as of April this year.

This is despite the fact that both Birmingham City Council and the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) have declared ‘climate emergencies’ during the past year.

But the region’s figures pale in comparison to Westminster, with its 570 charging points giving it an average of 223 charging points per 100,000 of the population.

Westminster covers a total area of 21.47 square kilometres and has a population of approximately 255,000, while the West Midlands covers 902 square kilometres and has a population of approximately three million. MP Liam Byrne, who is running for West Midlands mayor next year, said: “I want our region to be Britain’s capital of green manufacturing.

“But that means we need the best electric vehicle charging network in the country. Today we’ve got one of the worst.

“I simply can’t understand what our Tory mayor has been doing when a single London borough has more charge points than an entire region.”