Traffic technology company Swarco has signed a contract for taxi charging across the north east of England.
It will install 10 eVolt 50kW rapid charging stations for the use of taxis and private hire vehicles, each of which will be supplied by renewable electricity.
Transport North East’s funding from the UK government’s Ultra Low Emissions Taxi Infrastructure Scheme will fund the chargers, with the group working with Swarco to select the best locations.
Key locations have been mapped, taking into account land that is wholly owned by the authorities, either within car parks or on-street.
Swarco and Transport North East also considered dwell times and where fares are typically picked up as they chose the locations.
The chargers on the Swarco E.Connect network will be installed at two locations in Newcastle, two in North Tyneside, and one in South Tyneside.
Additionally, one charger will be installed at sites in Durham, Gateshead, Northumberland and Sunderland.
Councillor Martin Gannon, leader of Gateshead Council and chair of the North East Joint Transport Committee, said: “We are looking forward to this investment being made to ensure that taxi and private hire drivers will always have access to reliable charging when they need it.
“This is particularly relevant given the air quality challenges we face in the region together with the drive to decarbonise the transport network.
“We have examples of taxi and private hire fleets transitioning exclusively to electric vehicles and as the rapid chargers are added to the local infrastructure, we hope more will follow.”
Work has already begun to install the chargers, with all 10 units expected to be completed by autumn.
Read more from CiTTi
https://www.cittimagazine.co.uk/ev-charging-bollards-installed-across-coventry/
https://www.cittimagazine.co.uk/vattenfall-launches-smart-ev-charging-pilot/
