Funding for electric charging points

Windsor and Maidenhead council has secured almost £1million of Government funding to help boost the rollout of electric vehicle charging points across the borough.

The borough is aiming to deliver an additional 225 charging sockets over the next 10 years to help power the growing number of electric cars in the area.

The council has been handed £927,000 from the Department for Transport’s Local Electric

Vehicle Infrastructure Capital Fund which will be used to accelerate private investment in chargepoint delivery.

Councillor Geoff Hill, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “This will ensure chargepoint provision remains ahead of rising rates of EV ownership, giving our residents the ability and confidence to switch to EVs sooner and reducing carbon emissions accordingly.

“It will also enable us to meaningfully kickstart the rollout of residential on-street chargepoint sites, putting electric vehicles in the fast lane.”

The council said 33 per cent of carbon emissions in the borough are currently generated from vehicles on its roads.

Tackling the way cars and vans are powered is ‘vital’ to reducing carbon emissions in the borough, Cllr Hill added.

He said: “There are approximately 4,000 electric cars in the borough today, and this number is growing exponentially. By 2035, it is anticipated that there will be 50,000 electric cars in the borough.

“To meet this demand, the borough will need to have introduced hundreds of on-street charging sockets and sockets in council car parks across the borough. We want EVs to be a convenient and viable way to travel in the borough and, increasingly, residents are expecting to find charging infrastructure available in the borough.”

Discussions are now planned with the Department for Transport to identify suitable partners to help with the rollout of electric vehicle charging points.