Warwickshire getting ready for electric vehicle future

Warwickshire is getting ready for a greener future with a new plan to make the county electric vehicle friendly.
Electric car chargingElectric car charging
Electric car charging

Warwickshire County Council unanimously agreed to implement an ‘electric vehicle charging strategy’ to enable everyone to use electric cars every day in the future.

To kick-start the strategy, the council will invest £30,000 into getting charging facilities for its staff and trialling lamppost charging.

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At a meeting on Tuesday December 12, councillors across all parties were focusing on what the strategy should look like, rather than whether one is needed in the first place.

This impressed Cllr Jonathan Chilvers (Green, Brunswick), who felt the council had made real progress.

Speaking after the meeting, he said: “This represents, for once, the county council trying to get ahead of the curve.

“It’s about trying to get that infrastructure ready if people buy an electric car.

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“I think I should give the leadership respect where it’s due. They’ve made a real effort over the last six months.”

Now the strategy has been accepted, the county council will speak to district and borough councils to get then infrastructure in place, although timetables for installing it have not been drawn up yet.

The county council would like a network of charging points, both fast and slow, across Warwickshire, depending on demand.

It will also speak to electric charge-point manufacturers to trial different kinds of chargers, such as lamppost charging and ‘rapid charging hubs’ in towns.

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And it will work with vehicle makers in the area such as JLR to provide chances to trial new electric vehicles.

Cllr Chilvers added: “This is a positive step and we now need to put this into action. We can’t afford to be slow on this.”