Latest Winchester City Council rapid charger installed to help taxi trade

Image credit: LEVC

Winchester City Council has installed a new electric vehicle rapid charging point at Worthy Lane coach park to help make the area more accessible for owners of electric vehicles and in particular taxi drivers.

According to the council the new rapid 50kW charger can deliver a full charge to most electric vehicles in under one hour which will help meet the rapid charge demands of taxi drivers.

Winchester City Council has already introduced a new electric vehicle charging network of 32 rapid charge points across the district. The new chargers can be found in Wickham, Bishops Waltham, Denmead, Harestock and Winchester, and will soon be introduced in Alresford. The council will continue to expand their network of rapid chargers throughout the year by adding more charging points.

Installing the new ECVP’s is part of the council’s plan to be carbon neutral by 2030 and help make the area more sustainable. By 2030, the Government wants to phase out new diesel and petrol cars and encourage more people to opt for electric vehicles.

Councillor Lynda Murphy, Cabinet Member for Climate Emergency at Winchester City Council, said:

“In order to help reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality, we are encouraging Winchester district residents to make the switch to electric vehicles which have much less impact on the environment. The new rapid charger at Worthy Lane coach park provides a central Winchester location for the taxi trade, residents, and visitors of electric vehicles to use.”

Councillor Jackie Porter, Cabinet Member for Built Environment at Winchester City Council, said:

“As more drivers invest in electric cars, we want residents and visitors to be sure that their visits to our city, larger villages, and market towns include the chance to recharge their electric car. We hope that by installing EVCP’s it will boost tourism too as the summer arrives.”

The council has been working with JoJu Solar to install the charging points across the district, under Hampshire County Council’s Framework Agreement, which is accessible to all public authorities within the southern counties.

Winchester City Council’s installation of publicly accessible EVCPs in its car parks is complimented by a roll out of ‘on street’ EVCPs in the Hyde area of the City and in Eastleigh.