Macclesfield car parks go electric

Cheshire East is installing electric vehicle charging points in its car parks.

The £2.3 million funding, awarded through the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS) and the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund (LEVI), will provide more access to EV charging for electrically powered vehicles, including residents without off-street parking.

The plans are said to support the council’s Electric Vehicle Charging Strategy and the UK’s Zero Emission Mandate. 

Electric vehicle (EV) charging points will installed at around 175 sites across the borough, with installation at 15 locations starting this summer. 

Macclesfield will see installations in Brook Street, Churchill Way car park and Whalley Hayes car park.

Further sites are planned in the coming years with the council aiming to appoint an operator to deliver additional on-street chargers. 

Councillor Mark Goldsmith, chair of Cheshire East Council’s highways and transport committee, said: “With EV ownership in Cheshire East expected to rise from 8,000 to nearly 100,000 by 2030, this funding is vital. It helps us close gaps in the current network and support the growing number of EV drivers. 

“The council plans to expand the network further, with at least 160 more locations to be rolled out in the future.”  

Councillor Sam Corcoran, Cheshire East Council’s environment and climate change member champion, said: “This much needed funding will help us install hundreds more chargepoints, support the transition to electric vehicles and help our efforts to reduce carbon emissions across the borough.” 

Ed: As with many council issues we foresee a number of potential problems:

1/ Each car park will lose several parking spaces to EV charge points. Considering the council is hell-bent on selling off a significant proportion of Duke Street and Churchill Way car parks, this will reduce the spaces for visitors even further.

2/ There are already hundreds of empty EV charging points in evidence. Take up of EV technology is slowing down – to suggest ownership will grow from 8,000 to 100,000 is simply ludicrous, given other, greener, automotive technologies – such as hydrogen power – are gaining traction. EV’s and their charging stations could end up being a very expensive flash-in-the-pan.

3/ The council employing an EV operator to run them could prove to be yet another financial disaster waiting in the wings.