Thousands more charging points for the West Midlands

The UK region has just announced the installation of a further 10,000 charging connections over the next few years. The county already has over 4000 public charging points, the fifth highest of all English regions outside London.

Richard Parker, the West Midlands Mayor, said the regional Combined Authority will work with local councils to install thousands more public chargers using government funding – including 9 ultra-fast charging hubs with more than 200 charging points.

With the West Midlands home to many EV manufacturers and automakers, the number of chargers in the county is growing faster than many other areas of the UK. Mayor Parker said: “The West Midlands is the beating heart of the UK car industry and I want us to lead the charge into a new era of electrification. Our roadside EV charging network is already one of the fastest growing in the country, but I’m not stopping there. I’m giving the green light for 10,000 more charging connection points as part of our transport revolution.”

The expansion in chargers will be financed by the national Department for Transports’ Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund (LEVI) as well as the region’s City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS).

In February, the Combined Authority also secured three sites to setup DC charging hubs, each with 20 chargers. All three are set to be operational next year, and will feature covered parking bays with on-site amenities.

Birmingham is already home to one of the UK’s largest charging parks for EVs, which opened in 2023. The NEC conference centre has charging capacity for up to 180 vehicles, including 30 HPC charge points.

wmca.org.uk