In a £100,000 pilot scheme, a Liverpool city region council has installed more than 40 vehicle charging points which will be free to use for the first 12 months. Tony McDonough reports
A new pilot scheme has seen more than 40 electric vehicle (EV) charging points installed in Wirral and they will be free to use for the first 12 months.
Wirral council says the EV points are concentrated around the Hoylake, Wallasey and Woodchurch areas of the borough. The aim is to make it easier for EV owners to charge their vehicles and encourage others to move away from petrol and diesel.
The council committed to reducing the borough’s carbon emissions when it declared a climate emergency in 2019. The charging points, installed as part of a £100,000 scheme, will help to provide the greener network that residents need to reduce their emissions.
A grant from OZEV – the Office for Zero Emissions Vehicles, formerly known as OLEV – and Wirral Council, is funding the pilot. All future electric vehicle charging schemes will be subject to securing funding. They will be free for the first 12 months (from October 2021 to October 2022).
Cllr Liz Grey, chair of the Environment, Climate Emergency and Transport committee for Wirral Council, said: “While electric vehicles are not the primary solution to climate emergency issues, it is important that we do what we can to encourage those who have to travel by car to do so without causing as much air pollution or GHG emissions.
“This pilot project takes us a step closer in that regard. A big part of our climate emergency action plan is to work towards a future with far more active travel and better public transport.”
There is a ‘traffic light’ system on the front of the charging point. The top button is a system check and should be steady green. This means that the charging point is ready to use. If it is red, there is a fault that must be reported.
Once plugged in, press the middle button ‘stop/start’ to start charging. The bottom button tells you your charge status. Once your charge is complete, press the middle button ‘stop/start’ again and unplug your vehicle from the charging point.
The charging point locations are:
- Ackers Road, Woodchurch
- Atherton Street, Wallasey
- Cable Road, Hoylake
- Carrington Road, Wallasey
- Chapel Road, Hoylake
- Cressingham Road, Wallasey
- Elm Road, Birkenhead
- Elm Grove, Hoylake
- Ganneys Meadow, Woodchurch
- Grove Road, Hoylake
- Palantine Road, Bromborough
- Rostherne Avenue, Wallasey
- Sandringham Avenue, Hoylake
- Sandringham Close, Hoylake
- The Kings Gap, Hoylake
- Walby Close, Woodchurch
- Waverley Road, Hoylake
The locations of the units have been chosen based on a survey carried out in 2019 that asked residents where they would most like to see electric vehicle charging points. Click here for more information.