EV charging points coming to North Wales

Transport for Wales has appointed SWARCO UK to put in rapid electric charging points at local authority car parks in five towns in Denbighshire and Gwynedd.

The Welsh Government is partly funding the project, which will create charge points every 25 miles along the Welsh Strategic Road Network. Car parks in Ceredigion and Powys will also get EV charging points as part of the scheme.

In North Wales, the towns receiving the charging points are Corwen, Dolgellau, Porthmadog, Blaenau Ffestiniog, and Bala.

The news comes after the Welsh Government announced plans to pause delivery on new road projects until a review can be conducted to see if they are necessary. The temporary freeze would give the government time to ensure that funds could not be put to better use maintaining roads, said deputy minister for climate change Lee Waters. The decision is part of Wales’ push to lower emissions.

Creating more EV charging opportunities is part of that same mission.

“We know a lack of facilities is a real barrier to people having the confidence to change to an electric car and can even influence decisions about holiday destinations,” said Steve Ward, decarbonisation programme manager at TfW.

“With charge points every 25 miles and simple contactless payment facilities these problems are now being tackled,” he continued. He added that TfW plans to build thousands of extra charge points in the coming years.