Tourism in the east of England could suffer if more electric vehicle charging points are not installed in the region, councilors have warned.
Rob Colwell, Liberal Democrat member of Norfolk County Council, said he was worried because more people were switching to electric cars.
The government announced that the number of public electricity charging points in the region has increased by 63% since April 2023.
Of the 61,000 chargers in the country, there are about 5,000 publicly available chargers in the eastern region.
Rob Colwell called for more public charging points to be “rolled out super fast” [Paul Moseley/BBC]
The government’s aim is to have 300,000 public charging points in the UK by 2030.
So far this year, an average of 61 additional vehicles have been installed each day.
That number needs to double to meet the government’s targets.
“I think there’s a concern about business confidence…We’re a very big tourist destination and it’s a big part of our economy,” Colwell said.
“I’m worried that people may be deterred from visiting Norfolk if they can’t switch to an electric car.
“So I think we need a very quick rollout.”
Businessman Jamie Grelam wants to build an electric car charging service station on the outskirts of Diss. [Paul Moseley/BBC]
Jamie Grellam, chief executive of The Charge, which wants to build an electric vehicle charging service station on the outskirts of Diss on the Norfolk-Suffolk border, told South Norfolk Council on Wednesday It was rejected by
He said his company was also developing a site in Felixstowe, Lowestoft, and “we would like to develop in Harleston as well”.
He agreed that more charging points were needed in the area.
“If you’re coming from Bury St Edmunds [in Suffolk] “When you get to the coast, it’s a desert,” he said.
Norfolk-based motoring journalist Jess Shanahan said more government support was needed to encourage people to adopt electric cars.
“I wish there were subsidies again. They really helped a lot of people buy their first electric car, and there is also a VAT on public electric charging points. Maybe we can do something about (VAT),” she said.
“At the moment, going out and charging in public costs as much as refueling with petrol or diesel. This is ideal as many people are buying electric cars to save money. That’s not the point.”
Charging service station opens on the outskirts of Norwich [BBC]
Graham Plant, Norfolk County Council’s Conservative cabinet member for transport, said the authority was “working very hard” to add more charging points.
“We’re also looking at residential areas where people don’t have dedicated parking spaces,” he said.
“How do they charge in there? We’re working to solve that mystery.”
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “Since April 2023, the number of public charging points in the east of England has increased by 63% and we have increased the number of charging points by 4,200 to install charging points for people with disabilities. We are investing over £10,000 to continue to support this local development.” Street parking in this area. ”
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