Portsmouth City Council has submitted a funding bid to the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) for just under £900,000 to install more on-street residential chargepoints for electric vehicles at 320 proposed locations, with delivery to begin by the end of 2024 . If successful, the funding bid will provide even more options for people wishing to charge their vehicle near to their home or business.
This is in addition to the £3.682m allocated from Government’s LEVI fund which will see further chargepoints rolled out for residents. These plans form part of the Draft Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy out to consultation.
Portsmouth’s award-winning system uses a charging point housed inside a streetlamp column or slimline bollard, enabling electric vehicle owners to safely charge their vehicle on a pay-as-you-go basis. Portsmouth City Council was the first local authority in the UK to develop combined on-street charging from lamp columns, designated EV parking bays and ‘pay-as-you-go’ systems.
The current electric vehicle infrastructure means that 59 per cent of residents now live within a five-minute walk of a charge point, with this figure set to increase if the funding bid is successful.
All proposed locations are based on where residents have requested new chargepoints, as was the case with the first and second phases of the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS) installed in Portsmouth in 2019 and 2021.
Residents who have requested chargepoints include both people who already own plug-in vehicles and those who are planning to buy one, many of whom need the infrastructure in place before they do. If the funding bid is successful, an operator will be appointed who will undertake technical site surveys. The final sites will then be subject to public consultation.
Cllr Vernon-Jackson, Cabinet Member for Transport, said: “I’m very pleased to see this bid for funding go forward, since there is a clear demand for more electric vehicle chargepoints in Portsmouth. Many residents are on the waiting list for one near to their home, so we’re hopeful that we will be successful in receiving the money needed to offer more charging solutions for everyone in the city.”
For more information about on-street electric vehicle chargepoints in Portsmouth, please visit our EV chargepoints page.