Four ‘fast’ electric car charging points to be installed in visitor car park

FOUR electric vehicle charging bays will be installed at the public car park in Mill Meadows, Henley.

The town council has signed a contract to install the “fast” charging points, which charge a typical vehicle from empty to 80 per cent in four to six hours.

It decided against having “rapid” charge points, which charge vehicles in about an hour, to be more aligned with the length of time visitors tend to visit the meadows.

Drivers will pay the cost of charging directly to the charge point provider and will also be required to pay a parking fee. But the council will not charge for parking in an electric vehicle charging bay overnight to encourage their use by drivers without a home-charging facility.

It will receive a 10 per cent rebate per kWh of energy used from the supplier, which is estimated to be about £94 in the first year.

A meeting of the council’s transport strategy group heard that the fast charging devices fitted best with the pattern of use of the car park. Projects officer Fiona Hewer said: “People are typically there for several hours and that gives them time to charge their car.

“From their point of view, it is cheaper to charge on a fast rather than rapid charge point as you get more electricity for your money.

“Future charge points could be rapid and users would have a choice.”

The group recommended introducing an enforceable parking order to reserve the electric vehicle charging bays and enforce against misuse, embed charging time limits of four to six hours and not to charge parking fees overnight for the bays. Last month, the Henley Standard reported how between 10 and 16 new chargers will be installed in the King’s Road and Greys Road car parks, which are the responsibility of South Oxfordshire District Council, by March.

This will allow residents without off-street parking to park for free overnight and use a
7-22kw EV charging point.

A car could be fully charged in a few hours. The chargers will also provide battery top-ups to commuters and visitors during the day.

Meanwhile, Henley’s car club now has 47 members.

The scheme, in which two Toyota Yaris hybrid vehicles can be hired, was launched in April with the hope that it will become self-sustaining and a third car could be added next year.

The cars are parked in spaces outside Gibbs & Dandy in Reading Road and in Upper Market Place.

David McEwen, of Greener Henley, told the meeting: “As of the end of November, we had 47 members, which is really good, so it has been increasing steadily and the utilisation sits at about the 20 per cent mark, which again is really good.

“Greener Henley has taken on the role of promoting the car club because it is a really good air quality initiative.

“We had pop-up stalls in the town square in August, September and December and delivered 4,000 fliers to residents within a 10-minute walk of the two cars.”

He said that Co Wheels, which runs the club, was “very cautious” about having a third car in the near future.

“I actually think we are going to get problems with clashes and people not able to book cars so there are conversations to be had,” said Mr McEwen. “We ought to try to get a third car next spring.”

Town councillor Laurence Plant replied: “The minute you start getting cars unavailable to be booked you have definitely got to think of a third car.”