County Durham to have more electric vehicle charging stations
County Durham will be one of nine areas to benefit from a £20 million scheme to improve electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure.
Cllr Mark Wilkes
We have been successful in our bid to be part of the government's highly sought-after Local EV Infrastructure (LEVI) pilot scheme, which will see the multi-million-pound funding shared between the winning areas.
The £1.25 million funding allocated to the county will be used to create new EV charging infrastructure for residents, from faster on-street charge points to larger petrol station-style charging hubs.
It will see 100 new EV charge points installed across the county, particularly in rural areas where there is less infrastructure and in areas where residents do not have access to off-street parking.
Better accessibility
Cllr Mark Wilkes, our Cabinet member for neighbourhoods and climate change, said: "We are delighted to have been successful in our bid for the LEVI funding. This was a highly competitive scheme, so we are pleased that our EV plan has been recognised as one that will deliver high levels of success.
"The North East has only 3.1 per cent of the UK's charge points, the lowest of any British region, compared to London and the South East with 42.5 per cent. This funding will enable us to increase EV infrastructure and help bridge that gap.
"The scheme will also help us achieve our ambitious targets to reduce the county's emissions by making the possibility of owning an EV more accessible to our residents, encouraging more people to make the switch away from fuel-powered vehicles to a lower-carbon option."
Current EV projects
Improving EV infrastructure is a key aim within our Climate Emergency Response Plan in which we have improved our climate targets with the new aims of achieving net zero in our operations by 2030 and making the county carbon neutral by 2045.
We have already successfully delivered the installation of hundreds of new EV charge points through our Scaling on Street Charging Infrastructure Project (SOSCI) Weardale Electric Vehicle Accelerator and Regional Electric Vehicle Unified Plan.
SOSCI overachieved on its targets despite the challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic, with 160 charge points installed - 60 more than the 100 originally planned.
We are also in the process of creating 50 charge points through its Durham Other Charge Points project and will begin installing points through the new LEVI funding once this is complete.
