CABINET could next week decide to invest £275,000 to improve the county’s electric vehicle infrastructure. 

Next Tuesday (October 12) cabinet will decide on a new EV charging point plan to improve the current network and work with communities to increase the number of charging points. 

Currently, the council has 76 EV charging points in its car parks – 38 units each fitted with two charging points. 

As many of those are years old, there is also the possibility, the local authority says, to replace those for modern, faster chargers. 

According to figures from the DfT there are 2,832 ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEVs) licensed in Wiltshire at the end of last year 2020 – 914 more than at the end of 2019.

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The figures include battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric, and fuel cell electric vehicles.

Wiltshire is also failing to keep pace with the national rollout of electric vehicle charging points with 140 public points in the county. 

This comes to a rate of 28 per 100,000 people, lower than the UK average of 31.

Cabinet will also decide on offering grants to parish, town and city council to provide more charging points. 

The plan, according to the council, also sets the foundations for the national move to electric vehicles, which will then be built upon in the Local Transport Plan in 2023. The government has announced that by 2030 there will be a ban on new petrol and diesel cars.

Cabinet member for transport, Dr Mark McClelland said: “We know that some of the charging points in our car parks are not working, and we know how frustrating that can be for electric vehicle owners. 

“That’s why we’re bringing forward this plan to replace the council’s current network with modern chargers and to work with local communities to help more people make the switch to electric vehicles.

“If this plan is approved by cabinet, we can move forward with the tender process and people can expect to see new machines in our car parks and more charging points installed throughout Wiltshire over future years.”

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The council says the plans will ensure there is a more reliable – and widespread – charging network in Wiltshire.

It's electric vehicle charging infrastructure plan seeks to improve the network across the county, by replacing the non-working chargers and those in high use areas.