Surrey EV Charging Pilot

Project description

Surrey County Council has been awarded £470,911 to install 80 fast on-street charging points for electric vehicles across Woking, Spelthorne, Guildford and Waverley Borough Councils in 2020 and 2021.

The project is part of a pilot to help understand the infrastructure required to encourage ownership of electric vehicles within Surrey and help people switch from petrol and diesel vehicles. Particular attention will be paid to areas where there is concern over air quality, or where there is a lack of off-street parking, with the aim of identifying where the charging points need to be to best serve residents.

As part of the project, a phone app will be developed in partnership with a private sector partner (Enterprise) who are adding value and are bringing their experience from elsewhere in the country as well as providing some additional match funding   This will help residents plan the best route for journeys, across modes of transport, so it will include trains, taxis, car-sharing, buses and cycling with a single payment option across all.  

This investment is in line with the LEPs low carbon and clean growth aspirations in our emerging Local Industrial Strategy and supports the economy in terms of promoting smart mobility, which is another LIS priority. In particular it will facilitate the growth of the Electric Vehicle market in the chosen towns, increasing their attractiveness to ‘Young Urban Residents’ who have the potential to create jobs of tomorrow and enable future wealth. The boost in EV infrastructure as a result of this pilot will make the pilot towns/areas more attractive places to live and work encouraging employment and housing starts, as well as attracting retail activity where off-street parking is limited.  It also creates the conditions for EV technology to be successful in Surrey and elsewhere in the Enterprise M3 Area. 

In addition to funding from EM3 LEP, the project will also receive funding from central government, and from each of the four boroughs involved in the project. Work is expected to start in early 2020 with completion due in nine to twelve months.