Barnet Council has secured over £3.5m in grant funding to deliver 500 on-street electric vehicle (EV) charging points by November 2022. The grant from the Office of Zero Emissions Vehicles (OZEV) will see the charge points installed in 34 of Barnet’s residential streets by November of next year.
The £3.5m grant is the largest sum awarded to any Local Authority by the On-Street Residential Charge Point Scheme (ORCS) to date, and covers 75% of the expected project costs, the maximum available. The ORCS funds local authorities to provide public charge points for residents who do not have access to off-street parking. The remaining 25% of costs will either be funded by the council, a commercial partner, or in a part-funding agreement, reaching a total project value of £4.65m.
The 34 streets have been selected based on resident request, suitability for installing on-street charge points and where off-street parking is not possible. Barnet currently has the second highest rate of electric car ownership in London.
“Our multi-million pound investment in Barnet’s EV infrastructure will make it as easy as possible for residents to charge their electric vehicles as we accelerate further towards our net zero ambitions in the wake of COP26,” said Transport Minister Trudy Harrison.
“As electric cars continue to grow in popularity, I’m glad to see the council taking action at the scale that is needed, driving down emissions and cleaning up the air.”
The council is developing plans to build a comprehensive and fit-for-purpose infrastructure to support electric vehicles and ensure charging demand will continue to be met as need grows. This initial project is phase one of what is hoped to be an ongoing programme to support Barnet Council’s Electric Vehicle Strategy.
“As we approach 2030 – the government’s target of no new sales of petrol or diesel cars – demand for electric vehicles will continue to boom year on year. We welcome this major funding from the ORCS as it will allow us to greatly expand Barnet’s infrastructure for electric vehicle charge points and help ensure that lack of access to off-street parking is not a barrier to owning an electric vehicle for our residents,” said Cllr Cohen, Chairman of the Barnet Council Environment Committee.
“Enhanced access to on-street charging will help to encourage the uptake of electric vehicles, improve air quality in Barnet, and play a fundamental role in achieving the commitments in our forthcoming Sustainability Strategy.”
You can find out more on the council website about owning an electric vehicle in Barnet or requesting a charge point in the borough.
