Government announces details of scheme for provision of electric charging points
Sat 21 November 2009
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The Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis has announced the process through which cities and businesses can access funding worth £30m to encourage the provision of thousands of recharging points for electric and plug-in hybrid cars. Introducing the Plugged-in Places initiative Lord Adonis invited cities and businesses to join together to bid for the money to help fund the installation of charging points on streets, in car parks and other easily accessible places. The funding was announced as part of the Government's vision for ultra low carbon transport in April. (See earlier LowCVP news link)
The initiative will support the development of between three and six electric car cities and regions across the UK which the Government hopes will act as trailblazers for electric car technology. The experiences of these locations will provide experience and guidelines on which to base the future development of a national charging infrastructure.
The Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis said: "The UK can be a world leader in electric and low carbon cars which is why the Government has already committed around £400 million of support to encourage development and uptake of ultra-low emission vehicles.
“Our aim is for electric and low carbon cars to be an everyday feature of life on UK’s roads in less than five years. There is still a lot of work to be done, however Plugged-In Places is one very significant step putting us firmly on the path to a low carbon future."
Lord Adonis announced the Plugged-In Places initiative at a Green Transport conference held at the London Transport Musuem. To read the Minister's full speech at that event, click here.
The Chief Executive of National Grid, which is responsible for Britain's electricity network, said that the UK's electricity network urgently needs upgrading to become a 'smart grid' to effectively manage the requirements of electric vehicles as well as the rapid growth in the amount of renewable energy feeding in to the grid from more dispersed and smaller scale sources. (See associated Times news link.)
In a separate development, the supermarket group Sainsbury's has announced that it will have introduced free electric car recharging points at 11 stores across London before the end of the month. (Click here for more details.)
Meanwhile, the Government has announced a consultation on the planning rules for electric vehicle charging points. Housing and Planning Minister John Healey launched the consultation which includes proposals to permit councils and drivers to be able to install electric car charger points on-street and in car parks without planning permission.
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