First of new electric vehicle charging points go live

The new charging point, installed at Oldgate car park in Huddersfield town centre, are part of a West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) initiative to encourage the use of low emissions vehicles.

WYCA, supported by the Local Transport Fund, is installing up to 88 electric vehicle charging points in West Yorkshire – 17 of these sites are in Kirklees. This is part of the £3 million-plus scheme to help improve the county’s air quality

Each of the new sites, which are free to use until the end of October 2021, will have two bays. One will be exclusively for taxis and private hire vehicles and the second is for all other users.

The rapid charging points can typically take under an hour to provide a full vehicle charge depending on the vehicle. Parking will be free in pay and display car parks but limited to a one hour stay.

This will support Kirklees Council’s ambitious plans to make the borough carbon neutral by 2038.

As part of this plan a £1million council investment – approved by Cabinet on 20 January 2020 – is set to put Kirklees at the forefront of electric vehicle infrastructure provision. It will see five new rapid charge points and 80-100 new fast charge points installed in public car parks and on-street to support residents and visitors to move towards electric vehicles.

This will add to Kirklees’ current network which has three rapid chargers and 22 slow to fast chargers in the public domain.It will also support Kirklees Council’s Air Quality Action Plan which identifies the action the authority will take to improve air quality in the borough between April 2019 and March 2024.

Councillor Naheed Mather, Cabinet Member for Greener Kirklees, said: “Our responsibility to tackle climate change is something we take very seriously.

“We have a strong and ambitious plan to make Kirklees carbon neutral by 2038 and a part of this is to invest in greener forms of transport.

“If we want more people to drive electric vehicles we need to make sure the right resources are in place and this is the first of many new electric vehicle charging points coming to Kirklees.

“We can only tackle climate change with everyone on-board so I urge people to read our plans and think about what you can do to improve our climate.”

People can register to use the network online at ev.engie.co.uk where they can also locate their nearest West Yorkshire chargepoint and find updates on the opening of new chargepoints.

The scheme is a collaboration between West Yorkshire Combined Authority and its partner local authorities – Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield councils. Following its successful bid for £2 million funding from the Government’s Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV), West Yorkshire Combined Authority appointed Leeds-based ENGIE to install, own and operate the new charging points.

West Yorkshire Combined Authority and the partnering local authorities are also providing a further £1.2 million of match funding for the scheme.