More EV charging points coming to Worcestershire via joint council plan

Up to 120 new chargers will be introduced at 33 locations in north-east Worcestershire through the scheme, the councils said

More than a hundred electric car charging points are to be set up in part of Worcestershire as part of a £2.1m scheme.

Redditch Borough Council and Bromsgrove District Council have joined forces to initially add more to council-owned car parks and its main workplaces.

The authorities said they had agreed a long-term contract with EV infrastructure provider Zest.

Zest will invest the full amount and manage them for 15 to 20 years.

There will be no costs for either council which were providing the land for the chargers to go on for the duration of the deal, they said.

Up to 120 new chargers will be introduced at 33 locations in north-east Worcestershire through the scheme, the councils said.

'Convenient and reliable'

Redditch councillor Gemma Monaco, said: "We're delighted to deliver on a commitment we made to our residents and businesses to boost EV charger availability in Redditch by adding more chargers on our land.

"It's something that more and more people are demanding, and the more we can support people to choose electric the better, not least because lower vehicle emissions means better air quality.

"We're very interested in what we might be able to do next in other council-owned places including in residential areas."

Robin Heap, CEO of Zest, which is backed by the government-sponsored Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund (CIIF), said the group was "delighted" to have won the contract, one of the first of its kind in the West Midlands.

"Growing a network that makes charging easy, convenient and reliable helps make the shift to EV a realistic option for everyone," he said.

"Where councils and commercial landowners have the vision, we have the skills and the funding to make things happen quickly."

More could be added to council-owned land in Redditch in a later phase, the council said.

The first of the new chargers are expected to be installed before spring.

In July, Worcester Council said it planned to more than double the number of electric vehicle (EV) charging points in city car parks.

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