Oxford City Council to develop electric vehicle strategy

A new electric vehicle (EV) strategy for Oxford will guide decision-making on charging infrastructure and support the uptake of EVs across the city.

Oxford University predicts that EVs are likely to make up 90% of new vehicle sales by 2025 and 100% before 2030, meaning there could be up to 40,000 electric vehicles on Oxfordshire’s roads by 2025.

In light of this, the new strategy is expected to address how the city can respond to the rapidly rising demand for additional charging capacity.

It will also consider approaches to building inclusivity and fairness around access to EV charging, taking into account the needs of disabled drivers when designing and locating charging points. It will also address the current tendency to only install charging points in areas of high demand.

Cllr Tom Hayes, deputy leader and cabinet member for green transport and zero-carbon Oxford, said: ‘Electric cars are without doubt key to getting carbon emissions down and cleaning our air and, with this new strategy, the Council wants to make it easier for citizens to drive an electric vehicle.

‘We want charging points in neighbourhoods currently left behind by the market, which tends to put chargers in areas of high demand. In particular, we want to explore whether the Council could directly deliver EV chargers on our land through our wholly owned company ODS, ensuring that those who need to drive do so in zero-emitting vehicles.’

The new strategy will also outline the Council’s vision for on-street residential, destination, en-route and workplace EV charging, as well as ensuring that car parks in new developments are EV ready.

In order to meet the targets outlined in the Zero Carbon Oxford Roadmap, which will be published later this month, 25% of cars in Oxford need to be electric by 2025, with all cars electric by 2035.

The strategy is expected to be completed by March 2022, and public consultation will begin after this date.

In related news, Coventry City Council has announced plans to install hundreds of new electric vehicle (EV) charging points and a new bus charging facility.

Photo by Michael Fousert