Devon and Torbay commission nearly 3,000 public EV charging points

Devon County Council (DCC) and Torbay Council have appointed Believ, char.gy and Wenea to deploy almost 3,000 public EV charging points. Backed by £8 million in LEVI funding and around £30 million in private investment, the rollout will begin within the next few months.

The charge points will be installed over the coming years in communities, public car parks, on streets and on existing lamp columns. Under the agreement, Wenea will work with Devon County Council, Torbay Council and district councils to deploy rapid and fast charging points in public car parks. These sites are managed by East Devon District Council, Exeter City Council, Mid Devon District Council, South Hams District Council, Teignbridge District Council, Torbay Council and West Devon Borough Council.

Believ will install standard on-street charging units as well as chargers in parish council and community car parks, while char.gy will deploy charging infrastructure integrated into existing lamp columns.

The project combines around £30 million of private investment from the three charge point operators with £8 million from the UK Department for Transport’s Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) fund, which has already been awarded to the two local authorities.

Councillor Jaqui Hodgson, Devon County Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Biodiversity, said the expansion of the charging network is essential as road transport accounts for more than a quarter of the county’s carbon emissions. “Making it as easy as possible for people to charge their vehicles when and where they need to — outside their home, on streets, in public car parks and even on lamp posts — is crucial to encourage the take-up of EVs,” she said. “We look forward to working closely with Wenea, Believ, char.gy and our parish, town and district council partners.”

“This investment will help remove one of the biggest barriers to EV adoption, especially for residents without off-street parking,” said Councillor Adam Billings, Torbay Council’s Cabinet Member for Pride in Place and Parking. He added that the charging infrastructure would complement other local initiatives, including cross-pavement cable channel trials and the transition to an electric Stagecoach bus fleet in Torbay. “By increasing the number of decarbonised travel options, we are empowering our communities to choose cleaner transport by default,” he said.