With the number of people owning electric cars and other vehicles rapidly increasing we were interested to receive this question from one of our readers:

“I’m a regular visitor to Kingsbridge and own an electric vehicle but the lack of charging in the town, and generally around the South Hams, is a complete disincentive to driving around here. The long Stay carpark on Lower Union Road is surely the perfect place to site a whole bunch of modern, super-fast car chargers as there is an electricity substation in the carpark. I’m sure it would attract many more visitors to the town if they were able to top-up whilst spending money with local businesses. A great boost for the local economy – and doing a bit towards caring for the environment. Are the local council listening? Stuart Deas.”

We approached South Hams District Council and their Executive Member for Climate Change and Biodiversity, Councillor Tom Holway, said: “At South Hams District Council we are very aware that there is a demand for electric vehicle charging points in our car parks. South Hams District Council is in the process of rolling them out across the district, having already installed them in Mayors Avenue Car Park in Dartmouth and Glanvilles Mill Car Park in Ivybridge. At each location there are two outlets, with rapid chargers in Ivybridge.

“As a council, we will be increasing this number over the next 12 months as we are part of the Devon Low-carbon Energy and Transport Technology Innovator (DELETTI) Project. This project is a collaboration agreement with Devon County Council (DCC), East Devon, North Devon, South Somerset and Teignbridge to provide more EV charging points within our car parks in South Hams. Through the scheme, nine car parks in the South Hams will get new charging points over the next 12 months, including in Kingsbridge, Salcombe, Totnes and Modbury. Our Better Lives for All Strategy commits us to adopting this electric vehicle project over the next few months.

“However, it is not only local councils that can provide EV chargers. Supermarkets, filling stations and other car parks can also offer charging points.

“Not only will these extra charging points encourage visitors to come to the district, it will also help with our aim to reduce the South Hams’ carbon emissions to net-zero by 2050 as part of our Climate Change and Biodiversity Strategy.”