Dozens more electric car charging points have gone live in Brighton and Hove over the past year, according to the Department for Transport (DfT).
Official figures recorded 432 publicly available electric vehicle (EV) charging devices in Brighton and Hove last month, including 17 rapid chargers.
This was an increase of 79 – or 22 per cent – on the 353 EV chargers recorded by the DfT in October last year.
In the south east, outside London, only Milton Keynes had a higher number, with 515 EV chargers. Southampton had 116, Portsmouth 81 and Oxford 153.
The data showed that the entire county of East Sussex had 189 while West Sussex had 455, with just 40 in Adur and 59 in Worthing.
Britain as a whole had just over 49,000 public EV chargers by last month, up 42 on a year ago, with almost 9,000 rapid chargers. For the full data, click here.
The number of fast chargers available to the public in Brighton and Hove – just 17 – was well below average for a local authority area.
It means that fewer than 2 per cent of all fast chargers in the south east, outside London, were in Brighton and Hove.
Milton Keynes had 144 rapid EV chargers while Crawley had 19 and Oxford 35.
Brighton and Hove had more than 156 chargers available for every 100,000 people compared with 63 in the south east and 193 in London. The national average was just over 73 per 100,000.
But the rate for fast chargers – important for tourist and commuter destinations – stood at 6.2 per 100,000 compared with a south east average of 13.7 and a national average of 13.3.
Brighton and Hove City Council is increasingly requiring the installation of EV chargers when new homes and business premises are built.
The push comes as about a quarter of all new cars sold run on electricity.
The council said on its website: “According to Department for Transport figures there are currently 2,000 electric vehicles registered in Brighton and Hove.
“Independent forecasts of electric vehicle uptake growth have been made by UK Power Networks and the central government which both indicate that by 2028 this could increase to up to 27,000 electric vehicles registered in Brighton and Hove.
“In addition to residential charging, the charging infrastructure in the city will also need to cater for increasing numbers of visitors requiring public charging as part of their stay.
“According to an independent analysis by Compare the Market, Brighton and Hove is one of the best-prepared areas for electric vehicle uptake in the UK based on the number of chargers per resident.
“In 2022 the city passed the milestone of having delivered 1 million kWh (kilowatt hours) through the public charging network.
“Independent research by Field Dynamics and Zap-Map shows that 77 per cent of residents with no off-street parking now live within a five-minute walk of a public charger, one of the best rates in the country.”
The council also said that 16 taxi bays now had rapid chargers.
What – even the broken ones ?
No point. They will be replaced with hydrogen vehicles very soon.
Whilst hydrogen may be part of the mix, it categorically won’t replace EVs. Hydrogen needs to be produced (using electricity) and then transported to a filling station (which also uses energy). Simply charging a car via the grid does away with that inefficiency.
Except if you generate the hydrogen using spare electricity from sustainable resources – perhaps at current petrol stations.
Hydrogen is also one of the solutions for current gas central heating by using the current gas network, rather than going the heat pump route.
We all need to consider that once hydrogen is produced from excess wind turbine electrical charging capacity periods (over base grid demand), then it is stored energy for use at any time, unlike electricity requiring rare earth battery components. This would be best achieved using redundant oil processing plants around our coasts, that can be linked up to wind farms etc. We all need to appreciate the big picture and opportunities of green energy.
“77 per cent of residents with no off-street parking now live within a five-minute walk of a public charger”
Somebody really needs to sit and think what that actually means.
Is the parking bay next to each charger solely for use by electric vehicles? If not, what are the chances of getting your EV next to a public charger? If so, are there 432 less bays available for all vehicles than before the chargers were installed?
I find it hit and miss some traffic wardens say if ypur charging you don’t have to pay for parking while others say you have to have a permit to charge on street its for residents only chop the ev in get a gas guzzler least you don’t have battery anxiety
At minimum of 60p per kWh + 20p transaction fee for street charging EVs are about 33% more expensive than petrol according to a What Car report last year.
With the possible need for a 5 minute walk to get to your car I’m surprised many will bother.
If, however, you have a drive / garage where you can get your EV charged for 6p per KWh at home with special rates, then the cost case us much simpler – albeit you need to drive sufficient miles to overcome the purchase price difference with ICE vehicles.
Although almost a quarter of new car sales are EVs, this means three-quarters are still powered by fossil fuels – see https://www.statista.com/statistics/299031/fuel-types-of-new-cars-registered-in-the-united-kingdom/
The cost of 60p per KWh is a huge problem. For people who don’t have off street parking,
Electric vehicle pavement channel charging which allows charging for people who don’t have off street parking might be the answer. Nottinghamshire council is doing a trial:
https://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/transport/travel-notts/electric-vehicle-charging-in-and-around-nottinghamshire/electric-vehicle-cable-channel-evcc-pilot-programme/
Looks interesting – as long as someone else doesn’t park by your personal charging point. Or would owners get a private parking space?
The fact that battery technology requires an increasing amont of rare earth components will make them eventually unsustainable and without large systems the spare capacity of wind turbines cannot be stored. Logically therefore converting surplus green electrical energy into hydrogen solves the storage to some degree. Perhaps the best place would be at coastal oil refineries, which will have increasing spare capacity and enable gas to be taken to coastal cities or those with good river access, by redundant oil tankers, using hydrogen as their fuel. EV cars are only one part of the answer but hydrogen may be the most sustainable answer in the long term.
uses buses instead or walk leg scoot legbike… car dependency MUST reduce far too many car jnys made for short rides that can be walked legscooted cycled or bus and Brighton and Hove have reasonable service [and love the new turquoise and light turquoise colors. wouldnt want electric charger outide my house as risk of fire or some oik nicking my electricity