Release dated: 11 November 2022
Government funding of up to £1.8million has been awarded to the West Sussex Chargepoint Network, which is providing electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints for residents in areas which have no off-street parking.
The award is to part-fund up to 450 on-street chargepoints and 100 in public car parks. The remaining installation costs will be covered by EV chargepoint company Connected Kerb, one of the UK’s leading providers of EV charging infrastructure solutions.
The new wave of installations will provide a significant boost to the growing West Sussex Chargepoint Network, which is supported by West Sussex County Council and all the districts and borough councils in the county.
Joy Dennis, County Council Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, said: “This extra funding award by the Department for Transport is excellent news and will further boost what is already the UK’s largest rollout of electric vehicle chargepoints by a local authority. We’re working with our district and borough council partners to make even more chargepoints available across the county to encourage people to consider making the switch to electric vehicles."
Deborah Urquhart, County Council Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change, added: “Electric vehicles allow travel without exhaust emissions and the associated negative impact on local air quality. Where coupled with renewable energy sources, they also help to decarbonise transport. This dovetails perfectly with our Council Plan, which is underpinned by a cross-cutting theme of tackling climate change.”
Chris Pateman-Jones, CEO of Connected Kerb, said: “We are delighted to be working with West Sussex County Council on this landmark project which will make EV charging more accessible for people without driveways and boost our efforts to support sustainable transport.”
Proposed locations from the initial phase of the on-street chargepoint rollout can be viewed online.
The initial 450 on-street chargepoints will be going through the Traffic Regulation Order statutory consultation within the next month.
West Sussex County Council, Adur and Worthing Councils, Arun District Council, Crawley Borough Council, Horsham District Council and Mid Sussex District Council have signed a contract with Connected Kerb to install and maintain thousands of new chargepoints across the county. Chichester District Council has recently joined the initiative.
The project is fully funded by Connected Kerb, meaning zero cost to the councils.
