Somerset Council to expand EV charging in UK county
The money is coming from the UK government’s Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) fund, and will be used to target areas where residents typically lack off-street parking. The 17-year contract will see a minimum of 1,606 AC charger (up to 7kW) sockets delivered with the goal of improving overnight charging. Additionally, the council will also fully fund the installation of up to 20 rapid (50kW+) chargepoints in the county.
The council states it hopes to retrofit its existing network of street lighting and lampposts to “reduce installation costs and disruption”. The Council will then receive an annual income from the operators of all new charge points in order to cover administration costs.
With an estimated 27-per cent of Somerset residents lacking off-street parking, this initiative is set to greatly improve the availability of overnight AC charging. A minimum of 25 per cent of the charge points will also be allocated to lower-demand areas, particularly in rural communities, to ensure broad access.
Cllr Richard Wilkins, Somerset’s Lead Member for Transport and Digital, said: “By adopting this delivery approach, we can ensure that rural communities are not left behind in the transition to electric vehicle infrastructure. Without LEVI funding, the deployment of electric vehicle charging infrastructure in more rural, lower-demand, and commercially less viable areas of Somerset would be unlikely. We are committed to allocate 25% of all chargepoints to these locations, to help meet the needs of all residents.”
The Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund was established by the UK’s Department for Transport to help local governments accelerate the rollout of EV charging, especially in areas where private sector investment has been limited. The neighbouring county of Cornwall recently secured £5.5m in LEVI funding to similarly deploy up to 2000 new EV charging points.
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