Region to get 10,000 new electric vehicle chargers

West Midlands mayor Richard Parker said the chargers would help with "reducing pollution and tackling the climate emergency".

Ten thousand new charging points for electric vehicles are to be installed in the West Midlands, the region's mayor has said.

Mayor Richard Parker said the move would help with "reducing pollution and tackling the climate emergency head-on".

He added that the West Midlands was "the beating heart of the UK car industry" and it should be at the forefront of "a new era of electrification".

The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), which is led by Parker, said there were currently more than 4,000 publicly accessible charging points on the region's road network.

The WMCA covers 18 councils in the West Midlands, including city councils in Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton.

The combined authority said it would work with local councils to install the new chargers within a maximum timeframe of four years.

Ultra-fast charging stations

The initiative is due to include almost 200 charging points at nine ultra-fast filling stations, where drivers can charge their vehicles with up to 100 miles of range in less than 15 minutes.

The WMCA said the mayor had secured part of the funding for the initiative from the national government's fund for local electric vehicle infrastructure.

It added that the West Midlands currently had the fifth highest number of charging points in all English regions outside London.

Parker said earlier this month that the region was "leading the way" on green public transport, after a fleet of new electric double decker buses was unveiled.

National Express West Midlands now operates 329 electric buses in the region, about a quarter of the fleet.