OREANDA-NEWS. SSE has installed the Isle of Wight’s newest public electric vehicle charging point in Ryde, the island’s largest town.

A total of five charging points around the island have been installed by SSE. These are located in council car parks, four of which are ‘fast’ charging points which typically take between two and three hours to administer a full vehicle charge.

The latest charging point has been installed next to Ryde Arena in Quay Street car park on the Esplanade. Other ‘fast’ charging points are available for use in Sandown, Freshwater, Cowes and in Ventnor Botanic Gardens. The cost for using a ‘fast’ charger is ?4 for up to four hours and vehicles can park for free during the charging period. 

There is also a ‘rapid’ charge point at Chapel Street car park in Newport. These chargers are the fastest available and can sufficiently charge a vehicle in twenty to thirty minutes, costing around ?6 per charge. As elsewhere, motorists using it can park for free while their vehicles are charging.

The Government’s Office of Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) contributed around three quarters of the cost for the charger in Newport through Hampshire County Council in partnership with the Isle of Wight Council and SSE.

Councillor Luisa Hillard, Isle of Wight Council’s Executive Member responsible for Sustainability, said: “With the cost of fuel and more environmental awareness we are seeing more use of electric vehicles on the Island which supports our sustainable transport objectives. We are very happy to be supporting this scheme by providing car parking facilities free of charge while the points are being used.

“Any initiative that helps reduce carbon emissions and is environmentally friendly should be welcomed and I want to thank SSE Enterprise Utility Solutions and Hampshire County Council for working with us to install the charging points for the public to use.”

David Farr, SSE’s project manager for sustainable transport, added: “We are making sure our distribution network has the infrastructure to support the ownership of electric vehicles and we welcome the Isle of Wight Council's initiative to install charge points across the Island.

“Increasing the numbers of charge points will hopefully encourage more people to own an electric vehicle, which will in turn help reduce carbon emissions and establish a more sustainable environment.”