CAfS would love to hear from venues that could potentially host a charge point for electric vehicles (EVs).

We want to find two hundred sites in Cumbria and other parts of northern England over the next 18 months, as part of the new project to build EV infrastructure that we announced in July.

The project kicks off next month (September), so the eligibility criteria for charge point hosts haven’t been set just yet, but at this stage we’re keen to have expressions of interest from possible sites.

Community buildings, private businesses with a forecourt, rural hotels in a village and housing association areas are all examples of places that might fit the bill. In fact, there’s potential for any car-parking space where the owner is happy for the public to park an electric vehicle for at least part of the time, even if just overnight. It means that the host might use the charger for their own staff or customers’ vehicles during the day, and then make it available for the public out of hours. All booking, charging and billing is organised through apps that will be developed as part of the project.

The chargers that will be installed are 22 kW ‘fast charge’ points. These are an intermediate step between ‘slow charge’ and ‘rapid charge’ points, the latter costing up to ten times more than a fast charger.

We’re one of several partners in the Government-funded project, led by Cybermoor Ltd and Charge My Street. The aim is to address a potential gap in EV infrastructure, where sparsely populated rural areas and urban areas with terraced homes are likely to be left behind by the commercial roll-out of charge points, making electric vehicles less attractive to residents there. People living in terraced homes typically can’t install their own domestic charge point, because it’s illegal to trail charge cables across pavements and roads. It means they have to rely on charge points in other public or private spaces.

How to register an interest

If you, your business or organisation would like to find out more, then please register your interest online now. (Click ‘Continue’ at the bottom of the page once you’ve entered your postcode.) One of the project team will get back to you once we’re up and running, to discuss eligibility with you in greater detail.

And, of course, we’ll keep you updated through the CAfS newsletter. You can also keep an eye on the Charge My Street website.