20,000 electric vehicle charging points needed across Shropshire by 2030, climate partnership says

The Shropshire Climate Action Partnership (SCAP) said 20,000 electric vehicle (EV) charging points are needed across the county within the decade in order to meet the deadline of reducing carbon emissions by 2030.

This is a far call from current council plans, which, according to research by energy provider Centrica, suggest just 25 will be built by Shropshire Council in the next four years – in addition to the two already installed.

Telford & Wrekin Council currently has three charging points and said work was ongoing to develop its EV network across the borough.

The research obtained by Freedom of Information requests to more than 400 councils shows that there are 7,682 on-street chargers currently installed across the UK and only a further 9,317 are planned to be rolled out over the next four years.

SCAP, which formed a Zero Carbon Shropshire plan to reduce emissions, said thousands more are needed.

Mark Fermor, director of the project, said: "Transport is the biggest source of carbon emissions in Shropshire. We advocate that no new petrol or diesel cars are bought.

Infrastructure

"Instead, for essential daily car users, electric vehicles offer low overall carbon emissions per mile for high annual mileage use.

"We are advocating that for Shropshire, 2,000 on street car charge points be installed each year starting from April 2021."

Dean Carroll, Shropshire Council's cabinet member for adult social care, public health and climate change, said: "As we move to a low carbon economy it is imperative that we develop an infrastructure to support our communities and give them the confidence to make the switch from high carbon fuels, which extends to electric vehicle charging points.

“We are working hard to further expand the electric vehicle charging points network.

"The council has been working closely with the SCAP to share knowledge, promote it to potential new members and to identify opportunities to reduce carbon emissions countywide.”

Emily Taylor, of Telford & Wrekin Council, said: "We are developing our long-term EV charging strategy to bring forward a stronger public network over the coming years."

Amanda Stretton, of Centrica, said: “The latest figures demonstrate the need for all councils to play their part in helping to achieve the 2030 ban.

"With half of drivers attributing lack of chargers as the main reason preventing them from purchasing an electric vehicle, it’s unfair that those without a driveway risk getting left behind."

Mr Fermor added: "SCAP is recommending that the transition to electric vehicles must start immediately. There is a good range of vehicles available to suit all motoring needs, and prices are already competitive with diesel and petrol cars."