London, Milton Keynes, Bristol, and Nottingham will share £40 million from the government to improve electric vehicle infrastructure. As part of the initiative, drivers of electric cars will also be allowed to drive in bus lanes.
The money, from the government's Go Ultra Low City Scheme, will mostly be used to install new electric car service stations and street lights that double as charging points. Thousands of parking spaces will also be made free for electric cars, including 20,000 in Milton Keynes alone.
The government has been keen to push electric vehicles, but efforts have largely failed to capture public attention.
The National Charge Point Registry, which details the number of public charging points for electric vehicles in the UK, shows there are 7,179 connectors spread across the country. And despite the government subsidising electric vehicle purchases, fewer than 28,000 were registered in the UK during the first four years of the scheme.
The majority of the new £40m funding has been handed to London, with smaller schemes to install charging points and create new low emissions zones also being funded.
- London: £13m to turn "over a dozen" Hackney streets electric and give Harrow a low emission zone
- Milton Keynes: £9m to create a EV "experience centre", making 20,000 parking bays free for EV owners and allowing them to drive in bus lanes
- Bristol: £7m to give free parking to low emissions vehicles and 80 fast chargers
- Nottinghamshire and Derby: £6m to install 230 charging points and give owners access to bus lanes
Dundee, Oxford and York will also share £5m to spend on electric vehicles.
Areas with especially strong electric vehicle take-up could eventually introduce "electric highways", which would allow cars to be wirelessly charged as they are driven.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
