A bright future for electric vehicle charging in Brighton & Hove

Councillors will be given an update on the future of Electric Vehicle (EV) charging in Brighton & Hove next week, including some exciting new developments.

Members of the Environment, Transport and Sustainability committee will meet on Tuesday 21 September where they will have the chance to discuss a report on the progress being made to provide the city with a high quality EV charging infrastructure. 

Committee members will vote on recommendations to:

  • note the work being done to install and commission lamppost, rapid and fast chargers across the city and plans to submit further bids for funding.
  • note a successful bid to Innovate UK to create a model bookable disabled bay charging points and bookable public charge points for fleet vehicles.
  • allocate eight car club bays at the four locations identified in this report for use by Electric Brighton CarShare Ltd, subject to the consideration of any objections to the Traffic Regulation Order.
  • give officers permission to begin the process of identifying land close to the A27 suitable for inviting commercial investment in a rapid or ultra-rapid charging station
  • note that where possible new charge points installations will be placed on the carriageway to avoid pavement clutter

Exclusive recharging bays

The report also includes information on Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) for more exclusive recharging bays.

It means that by March 2022, around half of lamp post chargers in the city will be for electric vehicle recharging only, as well as all fast and rapid charging points.

This will further limit the number of chargers being blocked by non-electric or hybrid vehicles.

These are subject to the consideration of any objections.

Supporting a sustainable city

Amy Heley, chair of the Environment, Transport and Sustainability committee said: “I’d like to thank officers for the hard work they continue to do to ensure Brighton & Hove is prepared for the growth in electric vehicles.

“It’s important we give people that need to use a car the infrastructure they need to make the switch to an electric or hybrid vehicle when the time comes. 

“By growing the number of charging options for those or live, work or visit the city we can help to reduce toxic emissions and improve air quality across Brighton & Hove.”

Background

Since 2015, we have submitted a number of successful bids to the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles which have helped to grow the city’s EV charging infrastructure. 

Working with operator EB Charging, we have installed more than 200 lamppost chargers across the city as well as several rapid and fast chargers.

Earlier this summer we launched three new rapid charging hubs for use by the city’s electric taxis.

Electric vehicle charging to continues to grow with a number of key milestones hit earlier in the year.

We expect there to be more than 1000 EVs registered in the city by the end of 2021 and to have 5000 registered by the end of 2025. 

You can find more information about what we’re doing to support electric vehicles in the city on our webpage.

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