Sponsored by
Electric car charging points for Peterborough draw interest
Sportscar company Radical, of Westwood, are already pioneering electric car technology. Picture: Paul Franks
PLANS to install up to 100 charging points for electric cars in Peterborough have been met with great interest from the city’s business community.
The East of England Development Agency (EEDA) was given the green light by the Government in July to bid for £5.4million funding to build 600 charging points across the region.
Peterborough is one of the eight major locations in the East of England that would see the biggest benefit if the bid is successful, with 100 charging points earmarked for the city.
And Peterborough Environment City Trust (PECT) has joined Peterborough City Council in launching a search for businesses in the city which would be willing to house on of the points, which will then form part of EEDA’s business plan, to be submitted by the end of October.
Although the names cannot be revealed due to commercial confidentiality, PECT has revealed that a “well-known supermarket” is among the businesses to have expressed an interest so far. And a seminar will be held on Monday, September 20, in a bid to get more companies on board.
PECT chief executive Hugh Cripps said: “Considering the quality of the road infrastructure, Peterborough is a great place for electric vehicles, and businesses could really benefit.
“It would attract customers that drive electric vehicles; demonstrate their green credentials in a high profile way; give them the kudos of being on the cutting edge of environmental developments; not to mention being at the centre of Peterborough’s Environment Capital aspirations.”
Peterborough already has a pedigree for being at the forefront of electric vehicle technology, with two electric sports car companies, Radical and the Lightning Car Company, based in the city.
Theresa Wood, the council’s group manager for transport and sustainable environment, said: “A successful bid would see Peterborough become part of an electric transport network with links to London and Milton Keynes, which already have funding for the scheme.”
The free seminar will be held at the Eco Innovation Centre, in City Road, between 11.30am and 12.30pm and will be led by Ian McDonald from Future Transport Systems.
To book a place call Nisa Tariq on 01733 311644.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Peterborough
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -3 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 0 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South west
Comments
There are 3 comments to this article
Page 1 of 1
EddB
Tuesday, September 7, 2010 at 01:19 PMShame the picture was not of an electic engine but is a picture of a conventional petrol engine.. Holly Golightly..yes it would look like a picture of your washing machine motor but a lot bigger. May be everyone has forgotten that Peterborough is home of the No1 electric vehicle manufacturer in the UK Bradshaws Electric Vehicles..
Richard Olive
Tuesday, September 7, 2010 at 12:37 AMSometimes ideas which initially appear to be quite green turn out not to be so. Biofuels for instance seemed good until we realised that many acres of tropical rain-forest were being cut down to provide the space to grow them. Also they displaced much needed food crops. I have to ask Hugh is providing charging points to encourage people to drive electric cars really a good idea? Should we embrace it so that it will be "at the centre of Peterborough’s Environment Capital aspirations?” Basic fact - electric cars are only as green as the power grid that supplies their juice. They don't burn fossil fuels or spew greenhouse gases into the air. But most of the power plants that generate their electricity do! The Argonne National Laboratory says “ widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EV) could actually increase greenhouse-gas emissions rather than reduce them as we had hoped”. An electric car plugged into the national grid will produce 134gm carbon dioxide per km. But a Toyota Prius only produces 100 gm CO2per km. A SEAT Ibiza 1.4 TDi Ecomotive is even lower with 98gkm of CO2 emitted.Roger Kemp of Lancaster University has recently stated "Swapping gas guzzlers for electric vehicles will not solve our carbon emissions problem on its own. When most electricity in Britain is still generated by burning gas and coal, the difference between an electric car and a small, low-emission petrol or diesel car is negligible." Only when electric car owners also generate their own electrical energy from photo voltaic panels or a wind turbine will their emissions be greatly reduced. My question: have you considered these issues thoroughly before endorsing electric cars for Peterborough? I would welcome your comments please.
Holly Golightly
Monday, September 6, 2010 at 12:28 PMI always wondered what an electric engine looked like. I imagined it was like the one in my washing machine. But from your photo I can now see. I am however suprised that Westwood are so far advanced in their technology. I would have expected they would be 'recycling' old engines.
Page 1 of 1
Your view
Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.