Electric car charging points installed at council

Date: 16/11/2012

Members of the public will be able to charge their electric vehicles for free until March at the Central Bedfordshire Council offices in Chicksands, it has been announced.

National funding means that the charging points, which have just been installed as part of the Plugged in Places programme, will be free to use for an introductory period.

The scheme has been started in order to make sure that there is a charging point within 25 miles of all residents and businesses in the east of England.

This is being facilitated by the government providing 75 per cent of the cost of installing the charging points.

Central Bedfordshire Council is keen to use electric vehicles as a key component of its sustainable transport commitment.

It has worked alongside Source East, managed by EValu8 Transport Innovations Ltd, in order to put the infrastructure in place.

Councillor Maurice Jones, Executive Member of Corporate Resources and Chief Executive of the council, said: "This charging point is an exciting milestone in promoting the uptake of low emission vehicles as part of our plan to improve sustainable transport in Central Bedfordshire.

"We want our staff to travel sustainably as well as our residents and businesses and we hope this can be the first of many electric vehicle points in our office car parks."

There are plans afoot for another charging point to be put in place at the council's other offices which are situated in Dunstable.

The council's offices are not the only place where residents can refuel, with points also installed at the Grove Theatre car park in Dunstable, West Street multi-storey car park in Leighton Buzzard and Marston Vale Forest Centre.

Under the Plugged in Places scheme there are eight areas where the government is helping charging infrastructure to be put in place.

They are the east of England, Greater Manchester, London, the Midlands, Milton Keynes, north-east England, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Posted by Nick Anderson

International Transport News and Sustainable Transport News