MORE electric vehicle charging points will be coming to West Yorkshire after funding is announced to expand the network.
EV drivers will benefit from Government funding which is designed to support the rollout of more places to charge electric vehicles on the go.
A total of £5.3 million will be spent in Yorkshire to install up to a further 290 charge points in the short term.
West Yorkshire Combined Authority is one of four areas in the region to benefit from the funding, including the City of York, North Yorkshire and Rotherham.
Mayor of West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin, said: “This investment will help us encourage more people into electric cars, which is key to creating a modern, sustainable transport system that helps tackle the climate emergency.
“But once again we have found ourselves in a competitive bidding process pitted against other regions for money that is critical to achieving our ambitious targets – such as becoming a net zero economy by 2038.
“We shouldn’t have to battle for vital infrastructure and the Government must scrap this chaotic approach to devolution and allow us to take proper control of our own destiny with a single devolved budget for the region.”
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A total of 16 more local authority areas will receive money as part of the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) pilot scheme.
In addition, it will boost the existing On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS) and help councils coordinate charge point plans and work with private operators – delivering a more comprehensive and reliable network of charge points for drivers.
Technology and Decarbonisation Transport Minister, Jesse Norman said: “The Government is giving local authorities across England additional help today to energise their charge point roll-out plans.
“Today’s commitment will lead to thousands of new chargers being installed and plans for tens of thousands extra in due course, so that more people than ever can make the transition to using EVs.”
The announcement is part of a total of £56 million in Government and industry funding to increase electric vehicle charge points across the country.
Industry statistics show that more than one in five new cars sold in 2022 had a plug while Government statistics show that, at the end of September 2022, there were more than one million licensed plug-in vehicles in the UK.
Recent DfT figures revealed the number of devices available for use increased by just 8,680 from 28,375 in January 2022 to 37,055 12 months later.
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