Sixty-three new community venues across Suffolk, such as village halls and scout huts, will have new electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints installed, as part of Suffolk County Council’s ‘Plug In Suffolk’ project.
Twenty-five existing chargepoints from an early iteration of Plug In Suffolk will also be adopted under a new contract.
The county council has successfully bid for £7.3 million from the Government’s Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) fund, which supports local authorities to plan and deliver charging infrastructure for residents without off-street parking.
£1.4 million of the LEVI funding will go towards the community charging infrastructure, with a further £5.9 million allocated for on-street charging, which will be developed later this year.
Councillor Philip Faircloth-Mutton, Suffolk County Council’s cabinet member for Environment, Communities and Equality, said: “The county council has led the way bringing an EV charging network to Suffolk. In 2019, the Plug In Suffolk project provided the UK’s first fully-open EV charging network, with 100 chargepoints installed across 32 community sites across the county.
“With this latest wave of investment, we’re doubling the amount of sites which will see a Plug In Suffolk installation, meaning nearly 100 locations across the county.
“With over 1 million electric vehicles now on the UK’s roads, we know that the charging infrastructure must keep pace. That’s why we are continuing to invest, particularly in more rural areas which might typically be overlooked by private companies.”
Andrew Farrow, centre manager at Needham Market Community Centre, said: “We’re really excited that Plug In Suffolk is giving us the opportunity to install brand new chargepoints at our community centre. We’re seeing more enquiries about charging facilities, so being able to offer that service to new and existing customers really helps our business. It’s also giving us the opportunity to realise our carbon reduction ambitions, and consider where we could make other changes and improvements.”
Connected Kerb is an award-winning electric vehicle charging company, which has been awarded the contract to install the new community chargepoints, and adopt the existing ones.
Chris Pateman-Jones, CEO of Connected Kerb, said: "We're delighted to partner with Suffolk County Council on the innovative Plug in Suffolk project. As the number of electric vehicles increases, initiatives like this become crucial in supporting the transition to sustainable transport. We're proud to play a part in this journey and look forward to seeing the positive impact it will have on the environment and Suffolk's residents."
All costs associated with the chargepoints will be covered by Connected Kerb, including the cost of the electricity used to power them and any maintenance and repair required over the lifetime of the contract. Host venues will receive a net profit share of every kilowatt sold, from activation until their contract term ends.
