Installation of EV charging points in Sileby and Anstey

The Council is committed to caring for the environment and reducing its carbon footprint, supporting green travel, and tackling climate change.

As part of that work, the Council has secured Government funding from the Office of Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) to add electric vehicle (EV) charging points within the borough to support residential charging but also allow for general public charging.

The Council owns a number of car parks in the borough and has opted to install EV charging points in:

• The Nook, Anstey
• King Street, Sileby

These car parks have been chosen because of the criteria set by Government to secure funding under the On-Street Residential Charge Point Scheme. Those criteria were namely:

• Charging points had to be on Council-owned car parks with free overnight parking
• They had to be near residential properties which did not have driveways to allow residents to install vehicle charging equipment on their property
• The cost of connecting to the national electricity grid

The Nook Car Park, Anstey

This car park has 82 parking spaces and eight 7kW EV charging points will be added to serve eight parking spaces.

King Street Car Park, Sileby

This car park has 93 parking spaces and six 7kW EV charging points will be added to serve six spaces.

The car park already has one 50kW rapid charger which was installed and is managed by Highways England. Sileby was chosen as a site to improve the availability of this type of charger on the major highways routes – in this case the A46. ‘Rapid’ chargers are faster but more expensive to the customer to charge a vehicle

Types of charging points

The types of charging points recommended by OLEV are known as ‘fast’ chargers (7kw to 22kW) – these are the standard charger and mostly widely installed type of public charger. They are slower than higher wattage, ‘rapid’ or ‘ultra-rapid’ chargers but are more suitable for residents and those staying longer (over two hours) at a site. The cost to the customer to charge their vehicle is lower than that for rapid chargers (typically used on-route).

The lower wattage output also allows more units to be installed at a site because the electricity used is spread between the units.

Charge point supplier and operator

The Council has a contract with a company called Blink Ltd. (formerly Electric Blue) to supply and maintain the charge points. 

Blink Ltd will manage all customer interactions and charges for the use of the electric vehicle charge points. 

Blink will have its own dedicated electricity meter and will pay for all supply costs. 

Sileby

Blink Ltd is planning to install the charging points in Sileby in the week commencing August 21, 2023. Some parking bays will be unavailable while the work is carried out to install chargers and other equipment.

However, it may take some weeks for National Grid to connect the charging points to the grid so the chargers will not be operational until then.

To complete the connection, there will need to be some form of road closure or diversion on High Street in Sileby. National Grid is liaising with Leicestershire County Council regarding road diversions.

We will provide further updates to let residents know about the planned disruption.

We will also have to relocate some disabled parking spaces at Sileby, but none will be lost.

Anstey

Blink Ltd is planning to install the charging points in Anstey towards the end of August. Again, some bays will be unavailable while charging equipment is being installed.

Bays will still need to be connected to the grid before being available for charging. The Council will inform residents when this is completed.

Funding

The charging points are mostly being funded by a £60,940 grant from the Government’s Office for Zero Emission Vehicles. The Council is also making a contribution and the provider will also contribute to the installation costs.

EV charging points in Charnwood

Charnwood Borough Council installed a dual ‘fast’ EV charging point in Beehive Lane Car Park in Loughborough in 2014. There are plans to expand the current provision in Beehive Lane. 

There are also plans to add more EV charging points on residential streets in the county. This is being led by the County Council and supported by district councils.