More EV chargers to be installed in Plymouth

Plymouth will be trialling new ways to support residents who cannot charge their electric vehicles (EV) at home as they don’t have access to off street parking.

The trial will test out different ways for residents to charge their TVs across the city.

Currently around 37 per cent of households in Plymouth do not have off street parking and have to travel to charge their car if they own an EV.

As part of its electric vehicle strategy, the Council is allocating £2.415 million of funding obtained from the government’s Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund to install 100 pavement channels to enable residents to run a cable from an electricity supply in their house. 

This is new for Plymouth and would initially be done on a trial basis.

As well as this, 600 pedestal and/or flush fitting 7kW chargers (servicing 1,200 charging bays).

These will be publicly available chargers installed on streets and in car parks in areas where residents do not have access to off-street parking.

EV uptake in Plymouth has been slower than the UK average, with only 1.5 per cent of 134,000 registered cars and vans as of mid 2024 compared to over 4.6 per cent across the UK. 

Councillor Mark Coker, cabinet member for transport, said: “Electric vehicles are a key component for how we get out and about in the future and it’s great to see that the city is starting to adapt and put this into practice.

“We already have over 300 parking bays for electric vehicle charging across the city, but we need to make it easier for residents to charge electric vehicles close to home.”