% Council's very weak business plan gets a F grade for foolishness %
http://www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk/news/14477915.Electric_vehicle_users_unhappy_with_council_s_choice_of_charge_supplier/ Electric vehicle users unhappy with council's choice of charge supplier [20160507] Jack Brooke-Battersby [image http://www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk/resources/images/5037152/?type=responsive-gallery Richard Graham ] ELECTRIC vehicle (EV) users are likely to steer clear of Cumbria because new charging points are too expensive to use, it has been claimed. Funding has been secured by Cumbria County Council to create an EV infrastructure with nine points going live across the county this week. But while EV user and advocate Richard Graham, of Endmoor, welcomes the introduction of the new charging points, he believes the authority's choice of supplier – Chargepoint Genie – will put green drivers off visiting the area. He says the cost of using the new system, which includes rapid charging points, includes a £20 membership fee and a charge of 30p/kWh. This compares to roughly 7p/kWh for off-peak domestic electricity. "Unless they (CCC) have a serious rethink about what they're doing I'm convinced their network will either have a very slow uptake or it won't be used. "The problem is the council has chosen their provider and this very small company and its network is completely uncompetitive with the other big networks. "Visitors are not going to pay another £20 for yet another membership for a one-off trip to the Lake District. "But the main gripe is why have they chosen to try and charge a very high amount from the start and not try to encourage electric vehicle use." However Janet Willis, CCC cabinet member for environment, has defended the choice of supplier. "Charges do vary and we are aware ours is not the cheapest but it's not the highest either," she said. "It's a £20 one-off fee. Some charge annually, some are the same as us so it does vary. "Chargepoint Genie is looking to expand its network which is one the reasons why they were chosen. They have got other areas in West Yorkshire, Oxfordshire, London, Hampshire and Cornwall." Cllr Willis also believes it should not be an issue that the system in use is different to other places because of the wide range of suppliers in the country. The new charging points in South Lakeland and Eden are located at Kendal County Offices car park on Busher Walk; Ulverston's Brewery Street car park; Kirkby Lonsdale's New Road car park; Ambleside's Low Fold car park on Lake Road and Kirkby Stephen's Christian Head car park. [© thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk] For EVLN EV-newswire posts use: http://evdl.org/evln/ {brucedp.150m.com} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/No-one-will-use-expensive-20-30p-kWh-Chargepoint-uk-Genie-EVSE-on-a-one-off-trip-tp4681971.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/ Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
