Hampshire County Council has introduced 50 new on-street electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints in the areas of Eastleigh and Winchester as part of an innovative pilot scheme to be launched in March.
This forms part of the council’s commitment to reduce carbon emissions across the county,
The pilot involves the installation of two different types of on-street EV chargepoints – streetlighting columns, which will be used in the Winchester trial and bollards which will be used in the Eastleigh trial. This follows a successful funding bid to the Government’s Office for Zero Emission Vehicles, from which £125,000 grant was awarded for the project which was also funded by the County Council.
Deputy Leader of Hampshire County Council and Executive Member for Economy, Transport and Environment, Councillor Rob Humby, said: “As part of our commitment to become carbon neutral by 2050, and with a third of carbon emissions in Hampshire coming from transport, I’m keen that appropriate charging infrastructure is in place to encourage people to make the switch to electric vehicles where they can.
“This is why we are looking at innovative solutions – in this case how we can make it easier for people to charge their electric vehicles on the street if they do not live in a property with a private driveway by installing change points on streetlights and bollards.”
Eastleigh Borough Council’s Cabinet Lead for Transport Councillor David Airey said, “The Council is committed to tackling the climate emergency and we are pleased to support this exciting initiative to trial on-street electric charging that will help to reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality in Eastleigh. We will be supporting our residents through the process of these charging points being installed. The trial will be testing the effectiveness of on-street vehicle charging parking and will complement the rapid charging points that we are also installing across the borough.”
Councillor Lynda Murphy, Cabinet Member for Climate Emergency at Winchester City Council, said: “In order to help reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality, we are encouraging Winchester district residents to make the switch to electric vehicles which have much less impact on the environment. We are delighted to support Hampshire County Council on this project as it will complement the new electric vehicle charging network we are introducing across many of our car parks in Winchester and the market towns, and we are planning on expanding this network throughout the year by adding more electric vehicle charging points in our district.”
Councillor Humby continued: “Making the changes needed to reduce carbon emissions to tackle climate change means we have to try new initiatives to enable people to do things differently. With a national ban on the sales of new petrol and diesel vehicles coming into effect in 2030, this is the right time to run this trial, which we will monitor for effectiveness with a view to rolling out further across the county, subject to funding. As well as a reduction in carbon emissions, EVs, alongside active ways of travelling such as cycling and walking, will help contribute to better air quality and less noise pollution in our towns.”
