ELECTRIC vehicle (EV) users in Wiltshire are being asked to recommend locations for charge points across the county.
The use of EVs in the county is on the rise – and Wiltshire Council is responding to this by creating more publicly accessible charge points.
An interactive map has now been launched that allows users to pinpoint their suggested locations.
A council spokesperson said: “The data collected will help identify where public demand exists, guiding the development of future, council funded charge point installations on public streets, council car parks and buildings such as village halls and community centres.”
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Each suggestion will be balanced with the need for public EV charging in that area, availability of public funding, the capacity of the local electricity supply, support from the local community and local parking rules and habits.
According to the Society of Motor Manufactures, there are now more than 1.3 million EVs on UK roads – a year-on-year increase of 38.9%.
Most electric car users have a charge point at home. The real need is for a large bank (20 to 40 units) of 350-400kw chargers outside of town centres and just off main roads. There are simply not enough of them. Drivers will stop for 20 minutes and get a pretty much full charge. Charging speeds on cars are vastly improving every year. Having a vast array of 7kw chargers on the high street is a waste of taxpayer money. There are already these facilities in parts of Wiltshire and I rarely see them being used. Be careful about which company you contract to. Charging costs for ‘superchargers’ vary substantially from 40p/kWh to 90p/kWh. Electric car drivers are aware of this and will always look for the cheapest option. I speak as someone who has driven electric cars for ten years.