City is powering up its infrastructure for electric vehicles

A total of 22 rapid electric car charging points are being installed at council car parks across Sheffield.

The rapid chargers, being installed by Franklin Energy, can provide an 80% charge to a range of different electric vehicles in under an hour, compared with the regular chargers, which require three hours or longer to reach a full charge.

To be compliant with Sheffield’s planned Clean Air Zone, taxi drivers will have to upgrade their vehicles to avoid the charge.

To ensure those who choose to upgrade to electric have enough space near the city centre to recharge, ten of the points are reserved solely for use by taxis.

Chargers are being funded from Central Government’s Joint Air Quality Unit and the Office of Low Emission Vehicles. The total cost of the scheme is £1.2m.

The new chargers will replace some of Sheffield’s obsolete electric charging points at Carver Lane car park in the city centre and Parker’s Lane in Broomhall.

Construction work is now underway and all 22 locations will be online by November.

Sheffield City Council is in the process of upgrading its fleet to ultra-low emissions vehicles, starting with 12 electric cars and four electric vans added early this year.

Councillor Bob Johnson, cabinet Member for Transport and Sustainability said: “Electric cars are not a niche for early adopters anymore – they are becoming more and more popular.

“These 22 charging points are a starting point, not only increasing the number of places you can recharge but upgrading the existing chargers to be faster. Waiting hours for a full charge should be a thing of the past.”

Rob Byrne, managing director of Franklin Energy, said: “We are delighted to work with Sheffield city council in building a new rapid charging network from the ground up.

“The city has ambitious targets to be carbon neutral and has committed to implementing a clean air zone in 2021.

“This will help to accelerate the uptake of electric vehicles and e-taxis across the region and as an experienced electric vehicle (EV) charging provider, Franklin Energy will help with the strategic deployment of future charging infrastructure to facilitate the transition to mass adoption of EVs.”