Portsmouth could see more charging points for electric taxis

Next week the city council's cabinet will be asked to approve the installation of 10 across four sites it said were 'most suitable' for the trade.

‘Encouraging the increased adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) has significant advantages for Portsmouth over petrol and diesel alternatives,' a report published ahead of the meeting says. ‘EVs emit less air pollution, fewer carbon emissions and less noise pollution than vehicles with internal combustion engines.’

Last year the council's licensing committee approved a policy requiring all newly-licensed taxi and private hire vehicles to be ‘zero emission capable’ from 2025.

The introduction of this policy saw the council awarded £500,000 from the government for the installation of more charging points.

The council has also offered taxi drivers £1,500 to upgrade to electric vehicles and £5,000 if they are wheelchair accessible in order to make them eligible.

Ten new chargers capable of fully charging a car in an hour are proposed in the report: one at the Stubbington Avenue car park in North End; three at The Esplanade car park in Southsea; three at the London Road car park in Cosham; and up to three more at the Tipner Lane park and ride.

It said these car parks had been selected from the responses of taxi and private hire drivers who took part in a survey.

‘The rapid chargers will help to build-out existing and proposed EV charging infrastructure in able to support the increasing penetration of EVs across Portsmouth,’ it adds. 'This includes almost 100 on-street chargers being installed under the On-street Residential Chargepoint Scheme.'

It adds that the chargers could be opened up for use by the public should demand from the taxi trade be ‘very low’.