New charge-up points set up in the Harborough district

New charge-up points have been set up in the Harborough district amid rocketing demand as more drivers switch to electric cars.

An extra 10 charging points with associated bays are now ready to use in Market Harborough.

They have been installed on Doddridge Road, St Mary’s West, and Angel Street car parks in the town.

The sites have been specially chosen as they are all close by homes without off-street parking.

Overnight parking is free at council-owned car parks from 6pm to 7am.

The charge points have been installed in partnership with EB Charging after Harborough District Council was handed Government funding to support residents without off-street parking.

Some 75 per cent of funding for the £73,000 project is from the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV).

The rest of the cash has been put up by the council and partners, including nearly £12,000 from EB Charging.

In 2018/19, there were 181 charges from existing charge points in the district.

That shot up by about five times over the next two years.

And in 2021/22 there were 3,090 charges – over three times higher than the previous year.

Cllr Jonathan Bateman, the council’s portfolio holder for environment and regulatory services, said: “We’re very pleased these new charge-up points are operational.

“There is an increasing demand for them with the rise of electric vehicles on the road.

“Not only do they directly support our climate agenda to make the district cleaner and greener, they will also be available to local residents who aren’t able to have a charger at home because they don’t have off-street parking.”

The council has already introduced electric charging points on Orchard Road, Broughton Astley, School Road, Kibworth Beauchamp, Station Road, Lutterworth and at the Commons car park in Market Harborough, as well as Harborough Innovation Centre and the Grow on Centre.

There are also other public charge points spread out throughout Harborough district.

Each charge point can serve two vehicles at a time.

There are almost 300 electric cars registered in Harborough District, according to the latest Government data.

But that figure is climbing all the time.

And it is thought likely that there could be as many as 6,000 electric cars owned by residents in Harborough by 2025.

Figures show that more than one in four new cars sold in December was electric.

Alex Calnan, the chief executive of EB Charging, said: “We are very excited by Harborough’s plans and were happy to offer financial support to the project.

“We'd like to see zero emission towns and cities everywhere and these charge points will go a long way to supporting cleaner, healthier air in the district.”

It will cost drivers about 39p per kilowatt to charge vehicles.

That’s about £2.73 for an hour from a seven kilowatt charger, depending on the vehicle.

You can find out more about local electric charge-up points at: www.harborough.gov.uk/evehicles