The move to electric vehicles from petrol and diesel will be one of the biggest changes in our everyday lives over the next twenty years. From 2030, no new petrol vehicles will be sold in the UK. Last year, a quarter of all new cars sold were electric and this trend will only increase.
According to research by energy watchdog Ofgem, one in four UK households intend to buy an electric car in the next five years, as the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles approaches. However, there is currently only one public-access on-street EV chargepoint for every 52 EVs on UK roads.
Nationally, 40% of drivers do not have home off-street parking and only make up 9% of all EV drivers. I don’t know what this percentage is for Crawley, but I would expect not having off-street parking to be even higher. This is clearly an issue that needs to be addressed and I’m pleased to see that forward-thinking West Sussex County Council are doing exactly that.
The county council are leading on the UK’s largest public EV charging project, rolling out of thousands of public chargepoints across West Sussex within the next decade. This ground-breaking project will boost EV uptake among residents with no access to off-street parking and help provide the charging infrastructure needed.
In partnership with West Sussex district and borough councils, including Crawley Borough Council, the county council have contracted EV infrastructure specialists, Connected Kerb, to fully fund, install and maintain all chargers. With so many of us in Crawley not having off-street parking, I very much welcome this initiative.
Across West Sussex, thousands of chargepoints will be installed on streets, public sector car parks and on community facilities within the next ten years. What is of course important is that they are located in the places where they’re most needed, so your help will be invaluable. Residents can let the county council know where you would ideally like chargepoints to be located by using an online form. This can be easily found online by searching for “Connected kerb West Sussex”.
Councillor Duncan Crow, Leader of Crawley Borough Council Conservative Group
19th January 2022
