Staffordshire has received £4.6 million funding to develop the charging network for electric vehicles.
The boost comes as part of a Government package for five Midlands councils who are working in partnership with Midlands Connect on the project.
The allocation to Staffordshire County Council will allow it to accelerate its plans to attract the private sector to invest in installation.
The aim is to scale up the delivery of local charge points through mainly private investment, allowing more residents, especially those without offstreet parking, to switch to EVs.
Charge points will be installed by commercial providers between 2024 and 2028.
Locations for charge points will include public and private car parks, on-street charging, rapid speed charging hubs, fuelling forecourtsand residential properties.
Currently, approximately 97 per cent of homes without off-street parking in Staffordshire are not within a convenient walk of a public charging point, which is around 92,000 properties.
As of January 31 2024, there are 428 public charge points in Staffordshire and it is estimated that the county will need over 5,000 electric vehicle charge point sockets by 2030.
Staffordshire County Council’s cabinet member for highways and transport David Williams said: “It’s great news that our funding allocation to support the implementation of Staffordshire’s electric vehicle charging network has now been confirmed.
“It is not the county council’s role or responsibility to install or operate the charging points, but by working with partner local authorities, we will be in the strongest position to attract commercial providers which will undertake this.
“Our partnership strategy has identified where the most appropriate places for charging points could be and how we will work with the private sector to facilitate successful delivery.
“We will also work with businesses to encourage workplace charging and residents to support off-street charging, in addition to people and organisations making planning applications.”
