The rollout of electric vehicle chargers is accelerating with
West Midlands Mayor announcing another 10,000
connection points to be installed on the region's
roadsides.
Latest Department for Transport statistics show the number of
chargers is already growing at a faster rate here than in most
areas of the country.
There are now more than 4,000 publicly accessible charging points
across the region's road network – the fifth highest number of
all English regions outside London and a 36 per cent increase in
the past year alone.
It means residents and businesses in the West Midlands who have
already made the switch now have access to the equivalent of 11
chargers per square mile.
That number will continue to grow with Transport for West
Midlands (TfWM) – which is part of the West Midlands Combined
Authority (WMCA) – working with local councils across the region
to use funding secured from government to install thousands more
over the coming years.
This includes almost 200 charging points at nine ultra-fast filling stations
where drivers will be able to power their vehicles with 100 miles
or range in less than 15 minutes.
The Mayor said: “The West Midlands is the beating heart of the UK
car industry and I want us to lead the charge into a new era of
electrification.
“Our roadside EV charging network is already one of the
fastest-growing in the country, but I'm not stopping there.
“I'm giving the green light for 10,000 more charging connection
points as part of our transport revolution. This is about
building a cleaner and greener future for all of our communities,
reducing pollution and tackling the climate emergency
head-on.”
Range anxiety is one of the main reasons that drivers and company
bosses have been hesitant about switching to electric vehicles
with calls for the nation's charging infrastructure to be ramped
up.
TfWM is expanding the region's EV charging capacity with funding
secured by the Mayor from the Department for Transport's Local Electric Vehicle
Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund and as part of the region's £1.3
billion City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement
(CRSTS).
This continued investment to provide access to even more chargers
will address those concerns and drive the region's green
transport revolution and reach net zero by 2041.
