New electric car charging points to be installed at five Wrexham car parks next month

Ten new charging points for electric cars are set to be installed and ready for use by the end of September.

Plans for the charging points were unveiled by Wrexham Council in March this year, with executive board members unanimously voting in favour of progressing with the project and moving to reduce the county borough’s carbon footprint.

In March it was explained that the installation of the charging points will be split into two phases, with the first focusing on using council operated car parks in the town and across the county borough.

The £132,500 cost for this will be funded through the council’s existing cash limited carbon budget which is supplemented from ‘green’ revenue.

It has now been confirmed that the new charging points should be in place at Waterworld, Tŷ Pawb, Alyn Waters Country Park, Tŷ Mawr Country Park and the Trevor Basin car parks by the end of September.

Each of the car parks will have two charging points each, with Wrexham Council stating that there will be fees for charging at each of these stations.

It is also noted that drivers paying the standard parking fee for the car park at which they’re charging, users will also be charged a fee for the energy used.

Cllr David A Bithell, lead member for environment and transport, said “as a local authority, we have our part to play in increasing that provision.”

“We know electric cars have become increasingly popular in the last few years, and we even have some within our own fleet of staff vehicles – and we’re looking to increase the number of electric vehicles we have in the future,” said Cllr Bithell.

“So far, due to the amount of energy they can store, electric cars have only really been feasible for shorter trips – but as energy storage technology improves and the amount of available charging points increases, they’ll become a more and more viable alternative to petrol or diesel-fuelled vehicles.

“Funds from the installation of our ten new points come from the carbon budget, which is set aside to help us lower our carbon footprint, and a proportion of the income from the charging points will go back into the carbon budget for future projects.”