Members of the public and taxi drivers can now charge their vehicles at three new sites in Oxford, after the installation of six new rapid and fast electric vehicle charging points across the city.
The new chargers, which are located at Headington Car Park, Old Greyfriars Street, and Leys Pool and Leisure centre, will provide quick electric vehicle charging to users.
The installation of the new chargers is part of a programme to support electric vehicle uptake across Oxford. The installations follows the launch of other rapid taxi charging sites last year at Keble Road and Manzil Way Gardens.
The new chargers include:
- one rapid charger at Leys Pool and Leisure centre with two parking bays
- one rapid charger at Old Greyfriars Street with two parking bays
- one rapid charger at Headington Car Park with two parking bays
- three fast chargers at Headington Car Park with six parking bays
The locations of the charging points have been selected to ensure that electric taxi drivers are never more than five miles away from a charging point, with easy access to the major roads into the city.
Rapid chargers allow drivers to fully charge their electric vehicle in well under an hour, and are critical for high mileage users like electric taxi drivers. Rapid chargers typically can achieve 90 miles of charge in 30 minutes at a cost £6.50 and prices range from 35-50p per kWh. Fast chargers allow drivers to fully charge their electric vehicle (and get a range of 172 miles) in between three to six hours, at a cost of £10.98, and prices range from 24-35p per kWh.
Access for public vehicles and electric taxis
The Council is temporarily allowing members of the public to use the rapid electric taxi charging points, in order to encourage EV uptake across the city.
One bay at Leys Pool and Leisure Centre and one bay at the rapid charger in Headington car park will be reserved for electric taxi drivers. Both parking bays at Old Greyfriars Street will also be reserved for electric taxis only.
Two parking bays– one at the Leys Pool and Leisure Centre charger, one at the rapid charger at Headington Car Park, will be temporarily available for public use.
The three fast chargers at Headington Car Park will be available permanently for any electric vehicle to use.
As the number of electric taxis in the city grows, and the city sees the arrival of the Redbridge Park & Ride's Superhub, the Council will review public use of these charging points.
A map with the location of all public charging points in Oxford can be found here.
Chargers are owned and operated by EB Charging Ltd and can be used at a public charging rate of £0.39per kWh for the fast chargers, and £0.44 per kWh for the rapid chargers. Oxford licensed taxis will be able to charge their vehicle at a cost that is below average market rates, this is to help encourage the transition to electric vehicles.
The installation work is being funded by a £373,000 grant from the Office for Zero Emission vehicles (OZEV), as well as a match funding contribution from the Council and EB Charging Ltd, and delivered in Partnership with Oxfordshire County Council.
Zero Carbon Oxford
The chargers are part of the Go Ultra Low Oxford taxi project, which will increase the total number of charging bays for electric taxi drivers in the city to 16 bays (eight units) – helping to support electric taxi drivers, and local residents with the adoption of electric vehicles
The Council is already working with electric taxi drivers as part of its Go Ultra Low Oxford (GULO) Taxi project to help drivers transition to ultra-low emission vehicles by 2025.
“These new rapid and fast charging points will mean electric taxi drivers, and members of the public will be able to charge their electric vehicle quickly at key locations. Supporting the uptake of electric vehicles is part of our journey to become a zero carbon city by 2040, and ensuring drivers can easily charge their vehicles will help us to achieve this. While some electric vehicles can be expensive, they can provide savings on running costs in comparison to a diesel or petrol car. We hope that these rapid chargers will help give more people the encouragement to make the switch.”
Councillor Louise Upton, Cabinet Member for Health and Transport, Oxford City Council
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