West Norfolk is above average for county installation of electric car charging points
The installation of a further seven electric car charging points has set West Norfolk well above average for the county, confirms West Norfolk Borough Council.
A report shared by Thinktank the Policy Exchange last month revealed concerns over charging "blackspots" in rural areas across the UK, supported by figures released by the Department of Transport.
The figures showed 37 public charging points within West Norfolk at the beginning of January 2021, this gave a rate of 24 charging sports per 100,000 people, which was lower than the UK average of 31.
However, Cllr Paul Kunes, cabinet member for Climate Change and Commercial services, has confirmed that West Norfolk remains above the county average.
He said: “West Norfolk currently has the third highest amount of electric car charging points in the county and is above average for Norfolk. Seven additional charging points have been added since January 2020.
“We will continue to work with the Norfolk Climate Change Partnership on having a county-wide approach across all districts to create further charging opportunities.
"I’m pleased to see the many businesses who have followed the borough council’s lead since we introduced electric charging points in King’s Lynn and Hunstanton six years ago.”
The Policy Exchange highlighted the need for the rollout of electric car charging points to increase in order to meet the targets set by the planned ban on new petrol and diesel cars in 2030.
Electric vehicles are becoming ever more popular, with 382 vehicles licensed to addresses within West Norfolk at the end of September 2020. These figures, provided from the latest Department for Transport data show a 45 per cent increase from 263 vehicles in September 2019.
At the time the figures were released, the government also announced a further £20million funding for he development of the UK's electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
