Dramatic increase in EV charging points set to begin
A £2.8 million government grant will allow 500 public electric vehicle (EV) charging points to be installed every year for the next 3 years.
New contracts, to be awarded in 2025, will also offer more choice and flexible tariffs, including off-peak rates and access to more than 2,000 charging points.
The news comes on the day the National Audit Office publishes its report on the national rollout of EV infrastructure.
Scaling up for greater benefits
Councillor Trevor Muten, Cabinet member for Transport, Parking and Public Realm, said: “The dramatic increase in the number of public locations will help give residents confidence they can use a charging point close to where they live.
“Scaling up also offers new opportunities to introduce flexible and off-peak tariffs to make it cost effective for residents to charge their electric vehicles in the city.
“Providing clean, affordable and low carbon energy for transport is essential to achieve net zero in the city. We’re using the evidence presented in our energy study to increase the pace and provide the right infrastructure.”
Targeting areas
Over the last five years, the council has used grants to target areas where residents have no off-street access to charge their vehicle. From the new year the city will have just over 500 on-street charge points.
On-street charging infrastructure in the city already has the best coverage outside of London and 83% of residents with no off-street parking live within a 5-minute walk of a public charging point.
Recently the council installed 100 new lamp column charging points and a further 12 sites are now being prepared to accommodate 37 new dedicated EV charging bays.
In the first 9 months of this year, over 1 million kWh have been consumed from the EV charging network and the council is forecast to save over 1,800 tonnes of CO2 in 2024.
Types of charge points
Most of the new charging points will be less than 8kW – residential chargers that can charge a vehicle overnight.
The rest will be destination or rapid charging points. Destination charging points (up to 50kW) can charge up a vehicle in 4-6 hours. These will be located near amenities such as sports centres, libraries and shopping areas so are ideal for charging when out.
Rapid charge points (150kW) can charge up a vehicle in an hour or less. There are currently 18 of these, mostly for taxis, but we will be finding more locations that can be used for residents and visitors too.
Request an on-street charge point
Residents without the space for off-street charging can request an electric charging point to be installed near their home. Disabled drivers without access to a driveway are prioritised for installations. Find out more and get in touch.
More information
Read our new energy study, the Decarbonisation Pathways Study.
More about EV charging in Brighton & Hove.
Find your nearest charging point.
About LEVI funding
We successfully applied to the Local EV Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund to support the rollout of on-street EV charging infrastructure in the city.
The LEVI Fund supports councils to plan and deliver charging infrastructure for residents without off-street parking.
The fund comprises:
- capital funding to support chargepoint delivery
- capability funding to ensure that councils have the staff and capability to plan and deliver charging infrastructure
Find more about the LEVI Fund on the gov.uk website.
