Cenex and the Energy Saving Trust procured by Bristol City Council to garner people’s views in a major regional study of electric vehicle charging.

Loughborough, UK – 08 February 2018: A major public consultation is being launched today to assess Bristol’s existing chargepoint network for electric vehicles. The organisations running the process want to hear views from any current user of the network – or people who would like to operate an electric vehicle in the future – on how Bristol’s electric chargepoint network should be run, managed and supported going forward.

If you live or work in the West of England and would like to contribute your thoughts to the research, please follow this link to take part in the survey. Completing the survey should take no more than ten minutes and, upon completion, those responding will be able to enter a prize draw for a chance to win a £100 Amazon shopping voucher.

The consultation process includes a survey and focus groups, and is run by Bristol City Council partners Cenex with the Energy Saving Trust (EST). Cenex and EST are working together to strategically assess the existing chargepoint network, identify any issues, and find where additional infrastructure needs to go.

The focus groups are due to take place during the week of the 19^th of February 2018. If you would like to take part in the focus group sessions, please email Energy Saving Trust at transportadvice@est.org.uk with the subject “West of England EV Focus Group” and we will be in touch with more details.

In January 2016, the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) announced that Bristol – bidding with the West of England authorities[1] – had been awarded £7.1million of funding over five years to promote the uptake of electric vehicles, including plug-in hybrids, across the region. OLEV’s ambition is to have virtually zero emissions on Britain’s roads by 2050.

As part of its Go Ultra-Low West (GULW) programme, Bristol City Council aims to use its funding to install around 120 new public electric vehicle charging points across Bath and North-East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire. Cenex, as the go-to organisation for infrastructure assessment and procurement support, will be identifying candidate sites for public infrastructure, and will be assessing their feasibility working with the Distribution Network Operator and local authorities. EST are leading on stakeholder engagement of the project to gather views and opinions of the chargepoint network.

GULW’s headline target is to reach 5,000 new electric vehicle registrations per year by 2020, and therefore must meet anticipated demand for public charging points, potentially adding up to 200 additional chargepoints.

Luke Redfern, Business Development and Projects Manager at Cenex, said; “As one of the last few remaining free-for-use networks in the UK, the SourceWest chargepoint network has done an excellent job of supporting the uptake of low emissions vehicles in the region.  To achieve the ambitious targets set by the Council we recognise that more chargepoints are needed to reduce charging and range anxiety. This is an excellent opportunity, for both existing and potential new low emission vehicle drivers, to input into the future of this network, and help us identify locations that will help electric vehicle driver numbers increase, and ultimately improve air quality in Bristol.”

Councillor Kye Dudd, Cabinet Member for Energy at Bristol City Council  for Bristol City Council, added; “Bristol has a proud history of leading by example in the action against climate change and has committed to be a city that runs entirely on clean energy by 2050.The move towards electric vehicles is one that the council is keen to support and will help us to make significant improvements to our air quality. As well as upgrading our own vehicle fleet, we’re determined to meet local demand for charging points to enable as many local residents and businesses as possible to own and run electric vehicles in the future.”

The online survey asks questions related to how the network is run, accessed, experiences, and people’s driving habits, such as vehicle type, mileage etc. The survey is live until Friday 9^th March and everyone taking part will be entered into a prize draw to win £100 worth of Amazon vouchers.

To complete the online survey, visit: http://bit.ly/2BVaCHv

Focus groups will be held during the week of 19^th of February 2018, and anyone interested in attending should email transportadvice@est.org.uk.