Electric car charging points installed in Cambridge are yet to create a buzz – they have been used just three times in almost a year.
The plugs were fitted in two multi-storey car parks at taxpayers’ expense in September last year but now questions are being asked about how much research was done before the project was given the go-ahead. Cllr Gail Marchant-Daisley, the city council’s opposition transport spokeswoman, said it looked like the points were “premature”.
She told the News: “I applaud the thinking behind the initiative and it may well be the way of the future but the concern is that these were installed at considerable cost before there was any demand for them. One has to ask how much work was done looking at whether there would be any demand.”
The council, which is axing £2 million of spending and 36 jobs this year, said the bays at Queen Anne Terrace had been used twice in the last 11 months, while the spaces at Grafton East were switched on once. It bankrolled the scheme to the tune of £17,000 while Marshall Motor Group chipped in £5,000.
To use the points, electric car drivers have to insert a special key which is provided when they sign up to a scheme called Chargemaster. The power is free, but normal parking fees still apply.
Richard Turnbull, business development manager at Chargemaster, said: “It is not surprising that there has been a limited use because it is very early days in the electric car market and Cambridge has been very forward thinking in putting them in place.
