Night charging for residents’ electric cars to be made available in Barnsley

A network of charging points for electric vehicles is expected to be installed across Barnsley as the council prepares for delivery of a fleet of new battery powered vehicles.
Early start: A car charger has already been installed at Barnsley Council's recently developed West Street car park in HoylandEarly start: A car charger has already been installed at Barnsley Council's recently developed West Street car park in Hoyland
Early start: A car charger has already been installed at Barnsley Council's recently developed West Street car park in Hoyland

The authority also wants to open up its own car parks for night charging, to allow residents without the facilities to charge vehicles at home to use council bays when they are not needed for daytime use.

The authority has secured £100,000 for the Office for Low Emission Vehicles for the project and has found match funding to pay the rest of the cost of installing 18 charging points for its own vehicles and another 45 for public use.

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Members of the council’s ruling Cabinet will be asked to approve the scheme when they meet next week, but transport bosses want the chargers installed in time for the arrival of the 35 new vehicles.

The public charging points will be capable of powering two vehicles at once, if the scheme is approved.

It is expected the council will be running a fleet of 100 electric vehicles by 2025, a report to councillors states.

Drivers would have to pay to charge their vehicles in car parks and at this stage the council accepts it is difficult to estimate income from that service, because future use of electric vehicles remains difficult to predict.

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The report explains: “Public charge points are being placed in council owned car-parks close to areas within our town centre and principal towns for use by residents who do not have access to off-street parking and may otherwise be unable to access the benefits of electric vehicle ownership

“Council car-parks outside the Town Centre are generally free to use, and those within the town centre are free to use overnight between 6pm and 8am.

“Local residents will be able to use the car-parks overnight to charge their vehicles when required .”

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