Electric car charge points coming to Norwich streets

Almost 50 new publicly accessible charge points will be installed in residential streets in Nelson, Mancroft, Mile Cross, Sewell, Thorpe Hamlet, Lakenham and Town Close divisions.

The initiative had been announced last year, but Norfolk County Council has now confirmed EB Charging has won the contract to install the 46 on-street charging points.

Graham Plant, Norfolk County Council cabinet member for highways, transport and infrastructure (Image: Newsquest)

Graham Plant, the Conservative-controlled council's cabinet member for highways, infrastructure and transport, said: "We know from research that a lack of charging points is one of the top barriers to people making the transition to electric vehicles.

"We hope this programme will support more people in the Norwich area to make the change to electric.

"This is a fantastic collaborative project which will allow us to make a huge improvement to infrastructure for our residents at minimal cost to the taxpayer."

Electric car charge points will be installed in Norwich streets

EB Charging will fully fund the installation and ongoing maintenance, while UK Power Networks identified locations and ensured the electricity grid can support the charge points.

The council says some on-street parking restrictions next to the charge points will need to be reviewed, so electric vehicles can access them.

The chargers proposed include floor-mounted 22kW fast chargers and 50-100kW rapid chargers.

Alex Calnan, managing director of EB Charging, said: "We’re really excited to be working with Norfolk County Council on this ambitious project to dramatically increase the availability of EV charging options across Norwich."

Norfolk County Council will be working closely with EB Charging through the detailed design stage of the project and will talk to people living in the streets to ensure the impact on them is minimised.

It is hoped the charge points will be up and running by the summer.