City of York and North Yorkshire Councils say they are making progress towards installing the electric vehicle charging units needed by 2030.

The comments come as car company Vauxhall says not enough is being done nationally to install on-street chargers, with seven-out-of ten councils having no policy on them.

On-Street EV chargers are presently illegal in York and North Yorkshire due to the potential risks the cables may present.

However, the new North Yorkshire Council is expected to complete a review on the matter by the year end.

City of York Council says its current EV charging ‘strategy’ is due to end next year, suggesting change may also happen here.

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Various companies are increasingly developing on-street charging devices which may overcome safety fears and already allowed by some local councils.

City of York, however, currently believes that on-street charging is unsuited for the city’s 15,000 terraced homes.

Instead, it is focussing on delivering them in city car parks and at ‘hyperhubs,’ despite concerns from some councillors this is not enough.

Two hyperhubs already operate at the Monks Cross and Poppleton Park’N’Rides.

Councillor Pete Kilbane, Deputy Leader of the Council and Executive Member for Economy and Transport, says access to charging units is already an important issue that will become even more so as the number of electric cars increases.

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In addition to providing the number of charging points in residential area, the council is working to deliver two more hyperhubs and increasing the number of chargepoints in residential areas.

Cllr Kilbane added: “York actually compares quite positively with national figures on this topic, with 152 publicly available charging points, including 29 rapid chargers. This represents 75.4 chargers per 100,000 people in York, this is significantly higher than the national average which is 55.5 chargers per 100,000 people.”

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North Yorkshire Council says it is ‘proud’ of its progress in delivering the 3,160 charge points it believes the county will need by 2030. Already, 217 EVCP units have already been installed with the council also looking to install ‘mobility hubs.’

The council has already received £3.2million of government cash to fund 150 charge points, 70 of which will aim to be largely fuelled by renewable energy.

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North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for highways and transport, Cllr Keane Duncan, said: “We are in the process of applying for another £4.8 million which, if successful, will see us deliver our target number of chargers by 2025 – five years ahead of 2030, when the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars comes into effect. This funding is aimed specifically at supporting residents with a lack of access to off-street parking.”

He added: “We have also started a review into our policy of on-street charging to ensure we have the right approach and we expect this to be completed by the end of the year.”