Step backwards in going green
I WAS dismayed to see the four Chargemaster electric charging points in Coventry city centre; two on Crofts Road outside IKEA and two on Little Park Street outside the Citizens Advice Bureau) replaced by ones provided by Ecotricity. The Chargemaster points work on a monthly subscription of around £8 a month, which allows use of all their charging points across the UK. The Ecotricity ones work on a pay-as-you-go model and cost 50p to connect and 30p per kilowatt an hour. Ecotricity are well known for their extortionate pricing models on their motorway service station charging points and it’s clear that they intend to bring their extortion into our cities. There are three knock on effects of this shortsightedness: 1) It is now substantially more expensive to charge an electric vehicle. Admittedly this is a selfish way of looking at it but still, it will now cost me around £2.50 per charge to travel 15 miles which happens to be the same as the cost of petrol.
2) For people who might be considering purchasing either an electric or hybrid vehicle the cost to charge your car using these charging points will be a big turn-off.
3) The last knock-on effect will be four empty parking places. Where previously the various electric/ hybrid drivers had to goodnaturedly fight for the limited spaces available, the four charging points are now always empty. Previously the four charging bays would be a place where people passing by would engage with the drivers and talk about the pro/cons of owning an electric vehicle. In short it was a way for electric and hybrid car owners to spread the word to other people.
There are supposed to be a few more charging points in the Belgrade car park but when I went in there I was told by the parking attendant that those points haven’t been operational for at least a year.
Salt Lane car park has a couple but the parking charges are ridiculously high. The car park opposite the swimming pool is out of action for repairs, so the charging point there is not usable.
In the last few weeks it seems Coventry City Council has taken many leaps backwards away from trying to be a more environmentally friendly city. Rakesh Bhardwaj Kenilworth