Drivers of electric vehicles in Mansfield can now recharge their cars in Toothill Road car park.
The new D2N2 charging point in the car park, and two that are to be installed at the Four Seasons car park, are part of a £2m project to add up to 400 electrical vehicle charging points across Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire by April 2020. The network is available for local people to use at a reduced tariff.
Mansfield was allocated £42,000 in the project after Nottingham City Council, in partnership with Nottinghamshire County Council, Derbyshire County Council and Derby City Council, were awarded £6.12m to become one of four areas nationally in the Government's Go Ultra Low City Scheme, to improve air quality by reducing vehicle emissions.
Cllr Stuart Richardson, Deputy Mayor and Portfolio Holder for Regeneration and Growth said: “This is a positive step for Mansfield to become a cleaner, greener town and shows how important the environment is to Mansfield District Council. We are grateful for the financial support received from the government and project co-ordination from Nottingham City Council’s transport team.”
The 43kw rapid charger in the Toothill Road car park should allow drivers to recharge their car battery to 80 per cent in about 30 to 40 minutes. No membership is required to use this rapid charger as it takes contactless card payment. The charging point can be found at the bottom of the car park off Toothill Lane. Two more fast units are scheduled for installation in November at the Four Seasons Shopping Centre car park.
The D2N2 charging points, which are powered by renewable energy sources, are installed and operated by BP Chargemaster at key locations near major roads, park and ride sites, council-owned car parks and retail outlets. Local people can refuel their EVs at a reduced rate of 20p per kilowatt by applying for a special discount card on the Charge Your Car website (opens in new window). The card has a yearly fee of £20. Alternatively, if they are registered with the POLAR network, they can use the D2N2 points for the standard POLAR rates of 12p per kilowatt hour and a monthly subscription of £7.85. For drivers without a D2N2 or POLAR card, they can use the charging points via contactless card payment at a rate of 30p per kilowatt.
It is estimated that the average EV charged at home costs 3p a mile to run and EVs using the public network of chargers costs between 4p to 9p a mile to run depending on the car you drive and the network you use to charge up. This compares with 15p to 20p a mile for petrol or diesel powered vehicles. Electric cars also benefit from having zero road tax, and maintenance is at least 20 per cent cheaper compared to fossil fuel vehicles.
More information about this scheme can be found on the Transport Nottingham website (opens in new window) where there is also a map showing where the D2N2 charging points can be located.