Twelve electric vehicle charging points have been installed in West St Helen Street Car Park. That is two on each electric pump. There are also 16 for Audlett Drive and 10 at the Cattle Market car parks.
The chargers are operated by EZ Charge – a Bicester Company, working with Oxfordshire County Council.
The Park and Charge scheme is designed for local residents who cannot install home charging. They will also work for people who have not installed home charging, or anybody who needs a top-up.
According to the RAC You can currently expect between 100 and 300 miles from a fully charged electric car, depending on the model.
This is excellent for the times I visit Abingdon. As an EV driver i am glad the provision of chargers is catching up with the number of EVs being sold.
I hope people using this get free car parking, as car parks are only one free hour now. If not it would have to be factored into the cost of charging
have alook at west ST helen St car park overnight,full of local residents who pay an annual parking fee. So this will reduce the number of spaces available for them. Anotherexample of the council not consulting residents/voters for their views. Once again preference for the minority as seems to be the norm these days
@monagaun: People only change their behaviour or habits if forced to by legislation or economic forces.
Plus I doubt you are aware of how many of these residents are interested in switching to EV’s
please clarify how many residents are interested in changing and how you know these figures
I make no claim to knowing any numbers about how many residents want to switch. I was simply pointing out that you calim they are being disenfranchised but you don’t know if they are interested in switching and that maybe having a charging point may tip their decision making towards EV.
so you implied that you knew how many people were aware and now you dont, please clarify, i have a petrol car and i live in west st helen st , so in this age of diversity and equality why arent petrol and desiel pumps being installed as well
There are petrol and diesel pumps in Abingdon already.
To be honest it is a slightly pointless conversation. It is obvious that even if all the chargers are not needed now, they will be needed in the near future as petrol and diesel cars are phased out. Clearly the council aren’t going to come back and add one every time someone on West St Helen Street buys an electric car So there may be a few extra now that will be needed in a couple of years time.
Quite why it is such an issue that 12 our of 107 spaces now have EV chargers – so 95 spaces don’t have chargers – is a mystery when 1 in 4 new cars sold are now electric. If anything they will need to put in more chargers soon.
couldn’t agree more Colin. Let’s hope that switching to EV, solar panels, heat pumps etc etc are all made financially viable “for the many”, rather than exclusively for the wealthy….
Even poor people want to save the planet.
Huzzah Huzzah! Daniel thinks I am wealthy! Jeeves – break out the champers.
Who has paid/is paying for the charge points, does anyone know?
the company selling you the electric presumably.
A company in Bicester called EZ Charge raised circa £1m in private funding to install and pay a lease to the council on the car parks. The money is recouped by charging drivers per kWh. Council gets the lease money and revenue from parking, seeing as drivers still need to pay.
Thank you Chris.
How long does it take to get 300 miles’ worth of electricity from one of these chargers? And how many EVs actually deliver on the estimated mileage?
Could I actually get from Abingdon to Newcastle to visit my friend who is dying without a long stop (always assuming that I could find a vacant charger)? Answer: No. I can on a tank of petrol; and it only takes a few minutes to fill up for the return journey.
EVs have many advantages, but they are not yet a serious proposition for long distances. Alternative fuels may yet prove to offer a clean and viable future for the internal combustion engine.
Depends what sort of charging you have Paul.
The Tesla superchargers which have a very large network can charge 80% of a battery in about 20 minutes. 80% battery gets you somewhere between 200 and 250 miles. For me 20 mins is about right for a toilet stop and grabbing a coffee and I cant really drive 265 miles (realistic battery range these days) without a stop but maybe thats me.
Are non-electric cars allowed to park there too if there are no other spaces available?
No, because the company is leasing those spaces from the council and so they are restricted to cars charging. However, it’s only 12 out of 107 spaces so it’s probably more likely an EV won’t be able to charge and will have to park in a “normal” space then the reverse.
Do any of the 700+ houses on the Abbey Fields estate have EV chargers? They have been putting in a gas main for it…
I am not entirely sure if this is the Abbey Fields estate or the a nearby new north Abingdon development – see https://data.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/java/support/dynamic_serve.jsp?ID=1697983056&CODE=4E399040329CE2F160B979452BF28DCC but to reassure Daniel the provision of EV charging points was a) a planning Condition imposed by the VWHDC, and b) compliance of the condition was scrutinised by the Town Council Planning Panel very carefully !
Help ease congestion!
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/614294
I suspect that many of those complaining about the installation of these chargers will very soon be complaining that there aren’t enough and they aren’t being installed fast enough.