A £2m bid will be made for North Yorkshire to be included in a Government pilot to provide electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
The Government has launched a £10m pilot fund and invited competitive bids to test the design of its £400m Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund.
North Yorkshire County Council’s bid would see 70 chargers installed in rural areas around the county, with two sites in each of the seven districts and selected sites being areas lacking off-street parking or having high grid connection costs. Some of the sites are also popular tourist locations.
The charging points would be powered by renewable energy, including small-scale hydroelectric generators and solar panels linked to battery storage. This would reduce the need for costly grid upgrades by supplying power locally through a predictable, renewable and continuous supply. The £2m would enable the council to address the challenge of poor connectivity and the resulting lack of opportunities for communities in rural areas of North Yorkshire.
District and borough councils and the two national parks support the bid. The county council would also work with NYnet and Northern Powergrid and would seek private sector involvement.
The executive member for highways and transportation, Cllr Keane Duncan, said:
We are committed to increasing the options for sustainable, environmentally friendly transport across North Yorkshire and will look to take advantage of any funding opportunities that arise. We have embraced this opportunity to bring forward the strongest possible proposal within the tight 12-week deadline to benefit rural parts of our county.
This is a competitive process across the whole of England for a relatively small pilot funding pot, so success is not guaranteed, but this bid is another clear signal of our ambition to improve transport options for people across our large, rural county.
The bid must be submitted to the Government by the end of this week.
