Southampton council rolls out 30 EV chargers

Multi-storey car parks owned by Southampton City Council have received 30 new electric vehicle charging points.

For an introductory period these will be free to use for car park customers.

The charge points are able to charge a small car in around an hour.

Other charging facilities are expected to be rolled out by the council, in order to meet the demand of users.

These 30 charge points are the first phase of a city-wide network which will be delivered over the coming months.

The council is also working with neighbouring local authorities to provide current and future electric vehicle users with the assurance that a common, charging infrastructure is adopted across the region.

Cabinet Member for Sustainable Living, Councillor Christopher Hammond, said: “The city council is fully committed to reducing air pollution from exhaust emissions from vehicles in the city.

"Facilitating the uptake of electric vehicles is part of our Clean Air Strategy and these 30 chargers are the first of a city-wide network which we’ll deliver.

"As well as these 30 chargers, other incentives include a 90 per cent reduction in annual city centre season ticket parking fees, and offering taxi drivers cashback on licensing fees if they replace older more polluting vehicles with low emission alternatives. So far this has seen 16 diesel taxis removed from our streets to be replaced by much less polluting hybrid cars.

"Later this summer, we’re also looking to introduce free passage for electric vehicles on the Itchen Bridge.”