Funding boost for electric vehicles

New electric vehicle charging points are coming to the streets of Brighton & Hove following a successful bid for government funding.  

A grant of £300,000 has been awarded to Brighton & Hove City Council by the Office of Low Emission Vehicles, to install charging points across the city and encourage more drivers to make the switch to pollution-busting electric-powered cars.  

The ‘On-street Residential Chargepoint’ scheme offers funding for local authorities to buy and install plug-in electric car charge points, in areas of the city with no off street parking for charging. The grant funding covers 75% of the capital costs of procuring and installing the charge points.

Encouraging the take up of electric vehicles is one aspect of the council’s wider initiative to reduce emissions and improve air quality in the city.    

A report on the awarding of the funding will be discussed by councillors next month at a meeting of the Environment, Transport & Sustainability Committee.

Chair of the committee, Councillor Gill Mitchell, said: “We are delighted to have been successful in our bid for this funding.

“The registration of electric vehicles in the city has risen in the last few years and this funding will enable us to provide additional electric vehicle charging points in residential areas. 

“We hope that the wider availability of charging points will encourage more drivers to make the switch to electric, helping to reduce emissions and improve air quality.

“In the last few years, we have seen a significant improvement in the quality of the air that we breathe as a result of lower emission buses. We hope to improve this further by increasing the number of clean vehicles in the city.” 

More information about the electric vehicles and charging scheme