Wakefield to get £1.5m for more EV charging points across the district
Councillors have agreed to accept new funding to boost provision for electric vehicles
More electric vehicle (EV) charging points are set to be installed across the Wakefield district after senior councillors agreed to accept £1.5m of funding.
Wakefield Council’s cabinet approved a recommendation to accept the grant from West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) as part of measures designed to achieve net zero targets.
WYCA has been allocated more than £14m of government funding as part of the local electric vehicle infrastructure (LEVI) scheme.
The project supports local authorities in England to install public charge points for residents without access to private parking.
It also aims to improve the roll out and commercialisation of local charging infrastructure.
Wakefield will receive a total £1,520,938, based on a University of Leeds study into EV charger requirements for the region.
There has been an 18% increase in EV purchases nationally in the past 12 months.
Jack Hemingway, the council’s cabinet member for environment and climate change, said: “The number of electric vehicles on our roads continues to grow as people opt to make the switch to greener vehicles.
“We need to make sure there are enough publicly available charging points across our district to meet this need.
“More people will make the switch to electric if they are confident they will be able to charge their car easily.
“We need to provide affordable charging for households without driveways and accessible charge points to allow everyone to access public EV charging.
“That’s why this grant funding is so important.”
Decarbonisation of the transport sector is considered to be a key part of the West Yorkshire’s target to be net zero by 2038.
The LEVI scheme is fund by The Office for Zero Emission Vehicles and the Department for Transport.
A report to councillors said: “The number of electric vehicles on the road continues to continue to grow exponentially, demonstrating the need to provide sufficient charging infrastructure.
“This will be required to meet the growing need of EV drivers locally, but also to make sure that a lack of confidence in being able to access charging facilities will not present a barrier to people switching to electric vehicles and achieving the associated environmental benefits.”