The UK county of North Yorkshire could see 100 new fast EV charging points installed in public parking areas across the county.
North Yorkshire is the largest county in England, but currently only 34 electric vehicle chargepoints are in place across the county, several of which are not publicly accessible. The North Yorkshire Electric Vehicle Charge Point Network scheme, proposed by North Yorkshire County Council, aims to implement electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints at 38 locations around the county, meaning drivers travelling through North Yorkshire will never be more than 10 miles from a fast EV charging facility.
District councils within North Yorkshire – Craven, Hambleton, Harrogate, Richmondshire, Ryedale, Scarborough and Selby – have collectively pledged to fund half of the £1.16m (€1.31m) project; while North Yorkshire County Council is assembling an application to request the remaining funding from the European Regional Development Fund, which provides investment for research and innovation, support for small businesses and low carbon initiatives across the EU. The costs will cover installing fast EV charging infrastructure; signage; implementing the necessary traffic regulation orders; and promotional and awareness-raising activity.
Councillor Don Mackenzie, North Yorkshire County Council’s Executive Member for Access, said: “We do have half a dozen air quality management areas in North Yorkshire and, with the exception of Staithes, all of those issues are caused by vehicle emissions and encouraging the use of electric vehicles will go a long way to solving those problems. One of the biggest factors that dissuades people from buying an all-electric vehicle as opposed to a hybrid is that he or she thinks they could have a problem charging it up. Hopefully, this project takes away one more reason for not buying an electric car.”
If the council’s bid for funding is successful, work on North Yorkshire’s fast EV charging network is expected to begin in June 2021, with a projected completion date in March 2022.
