More electric vehicle charging points could appear across the North East

Transport chiefs from across Newcastle, Gateshead and Sunderland say they're working on a strategy to install more power-points, to help drivers move away from petrol and diesel cars.

Plans to boost the number of electric vehicle charging points across the North East could be ready later this year (2021), transport chiefs have suggested.

Despite improvements and increased investment in recent years, motorists in the region reliant on a plug to run their cars face limited options in many areas.

With government policy attempting to shift drivers away from traditional petrol or diesel power, families and businesses could be faced with tough choices if improvements can’t be made soon.

“What we don’t have at the moment is a strategy for electric vehicle charging,” said Tobyn Hughes, managing director of Transport North East.

“We’ve got a list of sites where it might be good to put charging points in, but we don’t have a strategy saying what we want to achieve and how to do that.

“That is something we will be working on over the next year.

“It’s all very well having a list of fields or redundant car parks that you can stick a charging point near, but which sections of the community are we trying to target?”

Hughes was speaking at this morning’s (Wednesday, April 14) meeting of the North East Combined Authority’s (NECA) Audit Committee, which was held by videolink and broadcast via YouTube.

Among the key questions facing transport chiefs are how much of the bill for electric vehicle infrastructure should be picked up by the public sector, as well as how to provide charging points for terraced properties and other areas reliant on on-street parking.

Last month (March) plans were approved for seven new charging points across the North East thanks to a grant labelled a ‘starting point’ for the region’s investment in the technology.