North Yorkshire schools and national parks set to benefit from new EV charge points

North Yorkshire’s schools and national parks have received new investment for electric vehicle (EV) charge points this week.

New funding for and the opening of new EV charging points across North Yorkshire was announced this week.

Grants for schools and cash for North Yorkshire Council were part of the plans to boost charge point numbers.

North Yorkshire has been awarded more than £5m, according to technology and decarbonisation minister Anthony Browne.

The Government said that it would provide new grants of up to 75 per cent of the cost to buy and install charge points at schools in the county.

The schools’ grant is for state-funded schools and education institutions which must have dedicated off-street parking facilities, and will increase the grant to £2,500 per socket, up from the previous £350.

The Yorkshire Dales National Park and North York Moors National Park also announced that 18 new electric vehicle charging points were live as of this week.

Of the new EV charge-points, 12 have been installed in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

In the North York Moors, six chargers can be found at Sutton Bank National Park Centre, with an additional six chargers set to be installed at Danby Lodge National Park Centre.

The charging points were funded by BMW UK through its Recharge in Nature partnership with National Parks UK.

Neil Heseltine, Chair of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority and National Parks Partnerships’ Board Member, said: “The Yorkshire Dales National Park alone welcomed 5.1 million visitors in 2022.

“We’re so pleased that our partnership with BMW UK will support those who are travelling to Yorkshire’s National Parks in EVs, to do so with more confidence.

“Part of our responsibility as National Parks is to conserve and enhance the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage of our Parks and this includes facilitating more sustainable journeys to Yorkshire’s National Parks.”

Last autumn, North Yorkshire Council said it was installing 96 electric vehicle charging points across the Scarborough borough area in 18 car parks, offering residents and visitors “convenient locations to recharge their batteries”.

The project formed part of the council’s commitment to “aim to be” carbon neutral by 2030.