Concerns mount over £5m electric vehicle charging fund for Cambridgeshire
It's part of plans to install more public charging points across the county
We're hearing that plans to install more public electric vehicle chargers across Cambridgeshire should have come in earlier.
The county council's received a £5 million government grant to work towards installing 10,000 charging points by 2030 after it received the support of its highways and transport committee.
That includes Fenland, which has one of the lowest provisions in the UK earlier this year.
Adrian, from Cambridgeshire, has been driving a hybrid vehicle which runs on both electric and fuel since 2016.
He says the issue with having enough electric charging points is not just local:
"I think what the county council is doing is a good idea but it should have come sooner; it's not just Cambridgeshire but needs to be done across the country," he said.
"There's no doubt this type of technology is going to be the future.
"If it's £5m, that's good but that won't be enough; they'll need to keep adding to this year on year to make sure we've got the systems in place ready to convert (to electric)."
The funding awarded to Cambridgeshire County Council is from the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund, which supports local authorities in England with planning and delivering the correct facilities for people without off-street parking.
A strategy will be in place to allow the council to find what form public and private on-street charging will take, what off-street charge and parking spaces should be created and how charge points can be installed at new developments.
According to electric vehicle charging database Zapmap, there were 53,029 charging points across the UK by the end of November, an increase of 46% from last year.
Councillor Alex Beckett, chair of the county council's highways and transport committee, said transport accounts for "27% of Cambridgeshire’s carbon footprint, with car use contributing over half of these emissions".
He said finding where to put electric vehicle charging points will make "private car travel more sustainable".
"It's one thing finding somewhere to charge"
However, Adrian believes those willing to invest in an electric vehicle must consider some of the drawbacks.
"It's one thing finding somewhere to be able to charge; when you come to charge your car, it might take you 3-4 hours to put decent mileage in it compared to filling up at the petrol pump which may take 3-4 minutes," Adrian said.
"You can't trail cables across pavements; that's impractical and dangerous.
"Anyone who makes that investment will make sure they can charge their car at home and be mindful of the type of journeys you do and the distances you travel."
County council officers will develop a plan and seek public engagement to find suitable electric vehicle charging point locations.
Their findings are due to be reported back to the highways and transport committee in March next year, prior to a decision by the environment and green investment committee later in 2024.