At the current rate, county’s three-year target will take over 12 years to achieve.
Data from the department for transport, Electric vehicle charging devices by local authority [1], shows that Gloucestershire has some of the lowest numbers of EV charging points in the entire country.
Lib Dem deputy leader Lisa Spivy said “In 2022, Conservative leader Mark Hawthorne boasted that Gloucestershire was leading the way on this issue, Bid for 1,000 new electric vehicle charging points across Gloucestershire to combat climate change [2]. These latest figures show those claims were just hot air, and further signs that this Conservative administration is running out of steam.”
As far back as 2019, Gloucestershire failed to bid for funding streams to get things rolling. Now they are making a song and dance about installing their first sites, How prepared is Gloucestershire for the electric vehicle revolution? [3]. The simple truth is Gloucestershire is not leading the way but being lapped by almost every other area in the country.
Lib Dem run Cotswolds and Cheltenham Borough Council have currently installed more EV charging points in their districts than the County Council has across the whole of Gloucestershire, despite the County Council being in a much better position to lead on the issue.
Notes to the editor
- It is hard to pinpoint exactly when the clock started ticking on the Conservatives three-year target for 1000 EV charging points. We have taken it from the end of July 2022, Gloucestershire electric on-street car chargers installation [4].
- The council's Building Back Better in Gloucestershire: 2022 - 2026 says the target is 2025 [5].
- By the end of March next year, the council aims to have installed 130 sites. This means it will have taken 608 days to install the first 130 sites.
- At this rate, the Conservative Council will hit their target in 2034
Footnotes
- Electric vehicle charging devices by local authority (Department for Transport)
- Bid for 1,000 new electric vehicle charging points across Gloucestershire to combat climate change (Gloucestershire Live)
- How prepared is Gloucestershire for the electric vehicle revolution? (Gloucestershire Live) April 201
- Gloucestershire electric on-street car chargers installation (BBC News)
- Building Back Better in Gloucestershire: 2022 - 2026