Plymouth’s first public electric car charging points go live

Charge points have been installed in the Regent Street, Theatre Royal and Western Approach car parks, as well as the Coypool, George Junction and Milehouse park and ride sites and at City College Plymouth.

They have also been installed at Midland House and Prince Rock Depot to support the future introduction of electric vehicles into the Council’s fleet. (These charge points will not be available for use by the public).

A second phase, programmed for completion by April 2015, will see charge points installed at the Plymouth Life Centre, Derriford and Mount Gould hospitals, the Cumberland and Thornberry centres, Devonport Dockyard and Naval Base and the Council offices at Windsor House and Ballard House.

Funding for the new facilities has been provided by the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV), following a successful bid by the Council in partnership with Amey PLC, City College Plymouth, Devonport Dockyard and Naval Base, Plymouth Community HealthCare and the Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust.

The charge points connect Plymouth to the rest of the country for electric car users, who will be able to fully charge their vehicles in three to four hours. They use the standard European Type 2 connector provided with the majority of electric cars in production.

You can ‘pay as you go’ using a smartphone or similar device – just register your details at payg.pod-point.com and follow the instructions.

Alternatively, you can use a pre-paid POD Point access card – email support@pod-point.com or call 0207 247 4114 to register and request your free card. You then just place the card on the top of the charge point and follow the instructions on the display.

The Council’s public charge points will be free until 1 March 2015 but you will still need to use the pay as you go website or access card to activate them. Parking charges will apply at the charge points in the three city centre car parks.

Cabinet Member for Transport Councillor Mark Coker said: “We’re very pleased to be working with partners to promote electric car use in Plymouth and taking this important first step towards setting up a citywide network of charging points. We hope that as more of these points are installed around Plymouth and the wider region more people will see the electric car as a viable alternative.”

For more information visit www.plymouth.gov.uk/ev.