Portsmouth electric vehicle drivers now able to access a rapid charger

The rapid charger in Stubbington Avenue car park was previously available for use by drivers of taxis and private hire vehicles, but has now been opened for anyone with an electric vehicle (EV) to use.

It's located in the car park off Stubbington Avenue, close to the shops on Kingston Road, and anyone charging their vehicle here will not have to pay for parking while using it.

Vehicles can remain in the bay for up to two hours while charging.

Rapid chargers are currently one of the fastest ways to charge an electric vehicle, providing between 60-200 miles of range in 20-30 minutes, though the exact speed depends on the vehicle.

They're able to charge EVs much faster, since they provide power at 50kW, instead of the 3-5.5kW used by most of the on-street charge points in Portsmouth.

Portsmouth City Council is also planning to install more rapid chargers as part of an ongoing project to help drivers of licensed taxi and private hire vehicles to choose electric vehicles.

This includes the installation of eight more rapid chargers in car parks across the city including London Road car park in Cosham, the Park and Ride and the city centre. These will only be available for use by drivers of private hire vehicles and taxis.

Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson, Cabinet Member for Transport, said: "It's great to see this electric vehicle rapid charger open for everyone to use. As a driver of an EV myself, I look forward to using it when I'm in North End.

"This, alongside our growing network of on-street chargepoints and other transport choices like rental bikes and car clubs, is just part of our plans to make Portsmouth a city with cleaner, greener and better-connected journeys."

There are already nearly 100 on-street residential charge points installed in Portsmouth since 2019, thanks to funding from the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme .

In March, PCC was allocated a total of £3,682,000 from the Department for Transport’s Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure fund to support the installation of more public chargepoints.

This funding, along with a wider EV strategy, will help residents to charge their electric vehicles even if they don’t have off-street parking.

To find out more about electric charge points, visit portsmouth.gov.uk/electricvehicles