First round of electric charging points to be installed as part of £318k pilot in Sheffield

In 2019, the city council declared a climate emergency and is working towards Sheffield becoming a zero-carbon city. A key aspect of this transition is supporting the decarbonisation of residential vehicles.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service was told that the budget for a new project that will see a city-wide rollout of electric vehicle (EV) charging points is £318k, including an ORCs grant of £84k from the Office of Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV).

This will result in 11 double-headed charge points (22 actual charging ports) in nine locations – six on-street and three car parks – across the city.

The aim of these on-street charging points is to act as a pilot project, learn lessons for future roll-out across the city, and make it easier for people without driveways to own electric cars.

The locations were identified based on the following criteria:

Areas where residents mainly rely on on-street parking

Where local people have already requested charging facilities

Where the Council expects a likely increase in charging demand

Where there is enough power grid capacity

The contract could be awarded in early December and the process of applying for Northern Powergrid Connections starts in the New Year.

A Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) will also be issued to ensure EV charging bays are only used by electric vehicles.

The plan is to complete the work by March 2024.

The chargers will be fast (7kw) chargers and it is currently proposed that they will be offered at the same rate as the other fast chargers Sheffield City Council (SCC) operate, which is 58p/kWh.

Cllr Ruth Milsom (Crookes and Crosspool, Labour) told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the charging points wouldn’t take away parking spots from the residents.

She said: “As you can see on Flodden Street and many of the streets in Crookes, we have a predominantly terraced housing stock, no off-street parking [however].

“As you can also see on the streets around Crookes parking is an absolute premium.

“There’s a lot of anxiety for people about anything that threatens to lose parking spaces. This scheme doesn’t take away any parking spaces.

“It’s just adapting what will essentially be two car-lenghts for electric charging stations which means for people who are ready to upgrade their vehicles and want to go electric, have the facility right near their homes.

“Electric vehicles are not a wholesale solution to everything environmental – to decarbonisation or to our route map to net-zero in Sheffield – but they are an important part of the solution right now.”

The fast chargers will be installed in these nine locations:

Hope Street, Stocksbridge

Stainton Road, Greystones

Slate Street, Heeley

Freedom Road, Walkley

Upwood Road, Hillsborough

Bishopsholme Road, Fir Vale

Flodden Street, Crookes

Station Road, Darnall

Balmoral Road, Woodhouse