Net zero drive accelerates with £150,000 investment in electric vehicle charging infrastructure
POWER POINT: New EV charging infrastructure, like this point in Lowgate car park, will be rolled out to more city centre locations
By Simon Bristow
Hull City Council will invest a further £150,000 in new electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure to support one of the largest fleets of electric vehicles in the region, and more than double capacity at a city centre public car park.
The council has appointed SWARCO to supply, install, operate and maintain 20 new EV charging points.
The chargers are a further step towards the council and the city becoming net zero by 2045.
Transport, especially road transport, is now the UK’s largest contributor to climate change. As the sale of new petrol, diesel and hybrid cars and vans are progressively phased out ahead of the legal ban in 2035, the council is working to prepare the city with adequate charging infrastructure.
The authority has a fleet of more than 350 vehicles but has committed to becoming zero-emission, with 43 vehicles already fully electric and another nine on order.
The council’s first ever 50kW ‘rapid’ charger will be installed at its main Stockholm Road depot, which will be able to charge most vehicles in about an hour.
Another standard charger will be installed at Stoneferry Bridge to provide additional resilience to support the team who look after the city’s nine bridges spanning the River Hull. This new investment complements an extensive range of fleet chargers already installed in previous phases across the council’s sites throughout the city.
In the city centre, 13 new 11kW chargers will replace six older chargers at Osborne Street multi-story car park to meet increasing demand, including fully accessible chargers, confirming to PAS1899 standard, which will be easier for people with mobility issues to use.
The council already has public chargers at the car parks at Lowgate and Hull History Centre.
Councillor Mark Ieronimo, portfolio holder for transportation, roads and highways, said: “The council’s latest investment in fleet and public charging infrastructure will further prepare the city towards transitioning from petrol and diesel to zero-emission electric vehicles.
“This will help tackle climate change and meet Hull’s target to become net zero by 2045.
“The council already operates one of the region’s largest fleets of fully electric vehicles and these additional chargers mean that we are on course to have most of the fleet zero-emission in the next few years.
“We are also responding to public demand in the city centre by doubling the number of chargers at Osborne Street multi-story car park and I am proud to announce some of which will be fully accessible public chargers.
“This investment, coupled with our joint bid with East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Stagecoach and East Yorkshire Buses, to the Government’s ZEBRA2 fund for electric buses demonstrates our commitment to decarbonising transport in Hull.”
The installation of the new EV charging infrastructure will be delivered as part of the council’s 2023/24 capital programme.