Drivers in Bath and North East Somerset can now use 30 new EV charging points following the expansion of the Revive charging network across the unitary authority district.
The new charging points are being installed at eight locations across the district including 16 50kW rapid and 14 22kW fast public charging bays, and brings the total number of charging bays across Bath and North East Somerset to 50.
According to Bath and North East Somerset Council, the 22kW fast charger can give around 50 miles range in 40 minutes and the 50kW rapid charger takes 17 minutes to provide the same range. All fast charging points have standard Type 2 sockets, with the rapid chargers having 50kW CCS, 50kW ChaDeMo and 43kW AC Type 2 tethered cables.
Funding to install EV charging points across the region has been awarded by the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles to the West of England Combined Authority as part of Go Ultra Low West project.
Councillor Sarah Warren, deputy leader and cabinet member for climate and sustainable travel, Bath and North East Somerset Council, said: “We have to become less reliant on fossil fuels if we are to achieve our net zero target, and a shift to electric vehicles will help us do that.
“But if we are to encourage people to make the switch it’s vital we have the infrastructure in place to make charging your vehicle simple and convenient. That’s why we bid for this funding and why I want to see more charge points installed in our communities.
“We’ve also committed significant investment to green our vehicle fleet by switching to electric models where possible. We currently have 30 electric vehicles including small vans, street cleansing machines and sweepers, but with the increase in availability of larger electric vans, specialist vehicles and HGVs, such as electric refuse and recycling collection lorries, we plan to green more of our fleet as the vehicles become due for replacement.”
Approximately 120 new EV charging bays are being installed as part of the Revive vehicle charging network, which also provides users access to GeniePoint chargepoints across the UK.
The new Revive chargepoints add to the existing Revive chargepoints that were upgraded from the former Source West network. There are also existing PodPoint chargepoints in a number of locations across Bath and North Somerset.
