Seven more electric vehicle charging points are set to be introduced in Watford over the new few weeks, a council has said.

Watford Borough Council is encouraging drivers to make the switch to more environmentally friendly vehicles, with new charging points being installed to provide more green energy in the town.

Locations for the new 7kW fast EV chargers include Granville Road, Stamford Road, Sotheron Road, Grosvenor Road, Sutton Road, Westland Road and Mildred Avenue - each site will allow charging for up to two vehicles. 

The provision of the charge points has been funded by the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) and Electric Blue in partnership with the borough council. 

People will be able to charge their vehicles for as little as 32p per killowatt hour via the Electric Blue app and can top up for a maximum of four hours or take a full charge if they leave it charging overnight.

It comes after the council installed five on-street EV charging points in 2020 as part of its ongoing commitment to reduce the carbon footprint of the borough and become net zero carbon by 2030.

There are currently charging facilities in Bradshaw Road, Victoria Road, Durban Road East, Essex Road and Shaftesbury Road, with there also being EV charging in Watford Business Park and at Cassiobury park.

Mayor of Watford Peter Taylor said “As the up-take of electric vehicles increases, we need to ensure that we have in place a strategy that reflects the increase in demand and explore the options for public charging points across Watford.

“There are now more than 9,000 public electric car charging locations in the UK and given our commitment to halting the Climate Emergency and making our air cleaner we must also play our part. If you have ever thought about buying an electric vehicle, but are concerned about the upfront costs, I would encourage you to find out more about the grants available to help with taking up this more sustainable mode of transport.”

The council says work is also being undertaken with Ringway to install 15 lamp column chargers. More information, including locations, will be provided soon.