More than 300 new EV charging stations are planned across the Bristol region in a project which will start this summer. Funded by the West of England Combined Authority’s Green Recovery Fund, the chargepoints will be located in car parks, supermarkets, cinemas, train stations and on residential streets where homeowners do not have driveways.
Community charging hubs will aim to provide chargers for residents who do not have access to off-street parking, providing an alternative and complementary approach to on-street charging. Residential hubs would typically consist of multiple standard/fast AC chargers (7-22kW) set in an off-street car park in residential or suburban environments, often using a car park which is under used – possibly overnight. This continues the approach of the current Revive network, which has already installed fast and rapid chargers in council-owned car parks within residential areas.
Revive was established through the Go Ultra Low West project, in 2019, and now includes over 200 EV charging bays used by over 8,000 drivers. It is a publicly owned EV charging network backed and owned by the four West of England Local Authorities.
The 300-plus new chargepoints will include 187 in Bristol, with the rollout costing nearly £5m and expected to take until March 2026.
The Authorities hope the investment will encourage more drivers to make the switch to EVs and give them more confidence that they will be able to find somewhere to charge up.
