Charging points for electric cars installed in three Suffolk towns

West Suffolk councils have made it even easier to switch to cheaper, greener, electric vehicles after installing charging points in three of its market towns.

New fast charge charging points have been installed in Bury St Edmunds, Haverhill and Newmarket, as part of an approach to encourage more drivers to switch to electric or hybrid vehicles which are better for the environment, better for public health and cheaper to run.

David Bowman, Cabinet Member for Operations at Forest Heath District Council, and Peter Stevens, Cabinet Member for Operations at St Edmundsbury Borough Council said: “We are committed to working to try to reduce vehicle emissions and improving the air quality on our towns and with the increase in charging points around the UK we will both be looking at electric vehicles when we go to buy a new car.

“Figures from Public Health England suggest air pollution is a contributory factor in one in 20 deaths of people aged over 30 – and the issue is not just limited to the big cities.

“It’s a lot simpler than you think – not only are electric vehicles just as fast as other cars, they are also getting easier to charge with more than 13,000  charge points nationally, while a single charge on most basic models will take you in the region of 100-120 miles.

“What is more, they are much cheaper to run with an electric vehicle generally costing around 3p per mile compared to 10p per mile for a petrol or diesel vehicle.”

So far the two councils have invested in eight charging points – two at The Guineas car park in Newmarket, two at the Ehringhausen Way car park in Haverhill, two at Ram Meadow car park in Bury St Edmunds, while two existing chargers on level 6 of the Parkway multi-storey car park in Bury St Edmunds have been upgraded.

The charge points are operated by Chargemaster and users must set up an account with them to use the facility.  

West Suffolk councils also offer a Greener Business Grant which means it will match fund up to £1,000 towards the cost of an electric vehicle or company charge point.

Details of charging points around the UK can be found at www.zap-map.com