Residents are now able to use 34 newly installed electric vehicle charging points in three council-owned car parks across Medway.
The charging points are the first to be installed in public car parks in Medway and Medway Council has plans to install more in other car parks in the future.
Residents are now able to use the charging points in the Rochester multi storey car park in Cory’s Road, in Station Road car park, Rainham, and in the Commercial Road car park in Strood.
Medway Council has received £85,420 from the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) to install the charging points as part of the council’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions.
The charging points were installed by Connected Kerb and to use them, residents can download an app and follow the instructions to pay for an EV charging session. When using the EV charging points residents will need to pay for parking as well as for use of the EV charging facilities. However, between 6pm and 8am, Monday to Sunday, residents charging their electric vehicles will not need to pay for parking.
Medway hosted its first Electric Vehicle (EV) Event at Rochester Castle Gardens last month, in collaboration with The Climate Coalition, which gave residents an opportunity to find out more about the electric vehicles currently on the market.
Committed to helping residents cut their carbon emissions
Cllr Howard Doe, Deputy Leader of Medway Council, who is leading on Medway’s Climate Change agenda, said: “We’re committed to helping residents in Medway cut their carbon emissions and I am pleased that residents are now able to use the new charging points. This exciting project supports our recently adopted Climate Change Action Plan and our aspiration to become carbon neutral in Medway by 2050. I would encourage residents, especially if they’re thinking of getting a new car, to visit medway.gov.uk/electricvehiclesFAQs and find out more about the benefits of electric vehicles.”
Find out benefits of electric vehicles
Cllr Phil Filmer, Medway Council’s Portfolio Holder for Frontline Services, said: “I am delighted that residents are now able to use 34 electric vehicle charging points in our car parks. More and more people are using electric vehicles and I would encourage residents to find out more about the benefits of switching from fuel to electricity.”
Beneficial for residents and visitors
Paul Ayres, Co-founder and Chief Data Officer of Connected Kerb, commented: “The South East are really picking up the pace when it comes to deploying EV charging infrastructure, which is great for both residents and visitors – people can feel confident that there will be public charging available across the area. Medway Council have committed to being carbon neutral by 2050 and installing charging infrastructure is crucial in achieving these aspirations. We are thrilled to be helping push things forward and hope residents will find electric vehicles a more viable option with charging in place.”
Find out more about electric vehicles and charging points.
Find out more about how the council is tackling climate change in Medway.