More charge points plan for electric vehicles

Electric vehicle charging points will become more widespread across County Durham.

To help make it easier for residents to own electric cars and reduce carbonCounty Council will be installing about 100 of these charge points within the next 15 months.

This is also part of a plan to ensure that residents without off-street parking can access one within a five-minute walk from their home.

The On-street Residential Charge Point Scheme (ORCS) has funded 60 electric vehicle charge points (7-22kwh). The ones to be installed will be put in place at council-owned carparks and each will be capable of charging two vehicles at once.

Last month, 37 charging points were installed inham, Con sett and Stanley.

The ORCS funding builds on the Scaling On-Street Charging Infrastructure project, which is delivering a further 100 charge points at locations requested by residents across the county in partnership with Innovate UK.

Cllr John Clare, Durham County Council’s climate change champion, said: “We know many residents would like to make the switch to an electric vehicle, but can not due to the logistics of being able to charge their vehicle – particularly in rural areas – which is why we are working to make electric vehicle charge points more widespread.

“Making the switch to an electric vehicle not only reduces CO2 emissions, but also allows the owner of the vehicle to save money on fuel costs.

“As a council, we have pledged to take action to county’ s carbon emissions and this initiative will help us in our goal.”