The first on-street electric vehicle (EV) charging points in a major Surrey trial are now live in three towns in Waverley borough.
It means drivers using EVs can now use two charging points in Hale Road, Farnham; four charging points in Summers Road, Farncombe; and four charging points in Farnham Lane/St Christopher’s Green in Haslemere.
It will only take a couple of hours for the 22 kilowatt charging points to charge up to 80% of an EV battery, at a cost of 30p per kilowatt hour (kWh) (based on a Nissan Leaf 2018 with a battery capacity of 40 kWh).
The trial is funded by Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership, Surrey County Council, and Guildford, Spelthorne, Waverley and Woking Borough Councils. There will eventually be a total of 20 charging points in each participating borough. The charging points have been installed by Joju.
The aim of the trial is to understand key issues relating to on-street charging and the impacts of installing chargers – such as the cost, policies, public support and maintenance. It will also provide first-hand experience of installation, analysis of usage patterns and analysis of surrounding impacts such as air quality. The lessons learnt from the trial will be used to inform the roll-out of charging infrastructure across Surrey.
Matt Furniss, Surrey County Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport and Infrastructure, said: “It is great news to see these charging points in Waverley ahead of a wider roll out across Surrey. It is important that Surrey County Council and our partners drive this forward before the ban of new conventional petrol and diesel car sales in 2030.
“We have ambitious plans in Surrey to reduce the impact of transport on the environment, which can be seen in our climate change strategy, and our proposed Surrey Transport Plan – which is out for consultation now, and I would urge residents to read and have their say on its proposals.”
In Surrey, 46 per cent of carbon emissions come from transport, and cutting that is key to tackling the causes of climate change. We all need to work together to reduce our emissions and become a net carbon zero county, and to achieve our vision of creating clean, safe and green communities for our residents.
However, moving to EVs will not be enough to reach those targets alone, which means we also need to leave the car at home and walk, cycle or use public transport where we can. Waverley Borough Council has a target to reach net-zero emissions by 2030, while Surrey County Council and the UK government have a target of 2050.
Please visit surreycc.gov.uk/electricvehicles to find out more about the trial, for a map of charging points in the county, to request a charging point in your area and to comment on the new Surrey Transport Plan.
Posted from Surrey News
