Together with Sheffield City Council, electric vehicle (EV) charging provider Franklin Energy has installed 18 new rapid chargers across Sheffield.
The chargers have been installed in seven locations around the city after a successful bid from Sheffield City Council to the Joint Air Quality Unit Early Measures Fund and the Ultra Low Emission Taxi Infrastructure Scheme from the Office of Low Emission Vehicles. Franklin Energy will manage the chargers as well as install them.
The chargers will fit a range of electric cars, vans and taxis – with the fastest able to fill a battery to 80% in 45 minutes. They are located in council car parks and on-street parking across the city, including four sites within the city centre. The first of these sites are now ready to be used. Nine of the charge points will be reserved for taxi-only usage to ensure electric taxis always have a place to charge. The installation of the new chargers comes as part of Sheffield City Council’s clean air strategy and its drive to reduce air pollution in the city.
Based in Liverpool, Franklin Energy provides charge points to both business and commercial customers. The company operates the LiFe network, which Franklin Energy plans to expand to include 5,000 public chargers by the end of 2025.
Julie Grocutt, Cabinet Member for Transport and Planning, said:
“We’re improving Sheffield’s electric car charging network to make it easy for people to make the switch to electric vehicles which is one of the best things we can do to reduce harmful pollution from transport – making the air we all breathe cleaner.
“We know not everyone has access to off-street parking, so not everyone can charge their car up at home. However, rapid charging means you can fill your car up while you nip to the market, or to the shops.”
Robert Byrne, Managing Director of Franklin Energy, said:
“We are delighted to work with Sheffield City Council in building a new rapid charging network from the ground up. This will help to accelerate the uptake of electric vehicles and e-taxis across the region.”
Chargers have been installed in seven locations around Sheffield.
The new sites are located on Clarence Lane and the Prince of Wales Road. New chargers will also replace existing ones at Carver Lane Car Park and Parkers’ Lane Car Park. Two locations, at Howard Lane and Pond Hill, are solely for use by taxis registered in Sheffield. Four chargers at Eldon Street will come online in early spring, with an additional nine at further locations by early summer.
Each 50kW charger can charge at 50kW DC or 22kW AC – and will be fitted with Type 2, CCS and CHAdeMO DC Connectors, accommodating for most electric vehicle models on the market.
The cost of charging will be 30p per kilowatt hour for the first hour – which will charge the vast majority of electric vehicles to 80% of their maximum. After the first hour, the cost will rise to £10 for every hour to encourage drivers to free up the space for other drivers. When charging, parking is free and there are no additional parking charges.
