Six new electric vehicle-charging points have been opened in Wiltshire as part of the council’s Rapid EV network.
The network is part-funded by the Government’s Office for Low Emissions Department, and the charging points are located in public car parks in Salisbury, Melksham, Warminster, Trowbridge, Corsham and Chippenham.
The charging points are free to use for EV owners, and each Chargemaster unit comes with three separate plugs to connect to a wide range of vehicles.
Between July and September 2014, 5059 Government plug in car grants – which reduces the price of electric by up to £5000 for cars and £7000 for vans – were provided according to Department for Transport figures.
The DfT claims that this figure is more than double the number of grants for the previous three-month period (2726 claims made) and almost a third of all of grants since the scheme was launched in 2010. By the end of September 16,149 claims were made.
“We’re really excited to have these new charge points in Wiltshire, not only to help local residents to reduce their fuel consumption with an ultra-low emission vehicle, but also to attract EV drivers from all over the country,” said Horace Prickett, Wiltshire County Council.
