YORK'S two new electric vehicle charging 'hyperhubs' are set to be the largest in the north of England.

Work began last month on building the electric vehicle charging sites at Poppleton Bar Park&Ride and Monks Cross Park&Ride.

City of York Council says the hubs will be the biggest in the north of England and both sites are due to be complete by June.

The hubs will each have solar panel canopies, battery storage, four rapid chargers and four ultra rapid chargers.

Cllr Paula Widdowson said electric vehicle charging has become more popular in the city, increasing from 1,510 charging sessions in 2014 to 13,695 in 2018.

She said: “We were one of the first cities to introduce a public electric network several years ago which has become really popular.

“We are delighted to be introducing the region’s largest EV charging hub. This is exactly what our EV strategy has set out to achieve. Providing a future proofed network with high quality facilities to support this increased demand. With associated air quality and climate change benefits, this will meet the needs of the next generation of plug-in vehicles.”

EvoEnergy are leading the £2.2 million project, which is funded by a £1 million European Regional Development Funding grant, £800,000 from government and £400,000 from the council.

Cllr Andy D’Agorne said: “We’re delighted to be working with EvoEnergy to build the region’s largest charging hubs in York.

"The two hyperhubs will support the next generation of plug-in vehicles - delivering high quality, high-speed electric vehicle charging hubs for residents and visitors.

“The project works alongside our Electric Vehicle Charging Strategy, which will provide a high quality charging network that meets the needs of residents, fleets, and through traffic.

“To guarantee the best result for residents, we plan to continue to own our charging network. This allows us to plan how the network will grow, set tariffs, makes us directly accountable and enables us to deliver next generation chargers as quickly as possible.”

Sales of new petrol or diesel cars will stop completely by 2030 and sales of plug-in hybrid vehicles will end in 2035.