West Sussex reaches major milestone with more than 1,000 public electric vehicle charging sockets

West Sussex has reached a major milestone in its drive towards cleaner transport, with more than 1,000 public electric vehicle charging sockets now available across the county.

The achievement was celebrated at a special event in Southwick, where residents, councillors and representatives from charging provider Connected Kerb gathered to mark the expansion of the West Sussex Chargepoint Network.

The event took place at Manor Hall Road, a location where the installation of charging facilities had been requested by a local resident.

West Sussex County Council confirmed that 1,030 charging sockets are now operating across the county, following a programme of installations which began in 2022.

Since May of that year, the network has recorded approximately 77,000 charging sessions involving around 14,000 users.

During that period, the chargepoints have supplied around 1.79 million kilowatt-hours of electricity.

The network is particularly aimed at helping residents who do not have access to private driveways or off-street parking, making it easier to own and operate an electric vehicle.

West Sussex County Council signed its agreement with Connected Kerb in November 2021, with the first installations beginning the following year.

The council has since worked with district and borough authorities to identify suitable locations and expand access to public charging facilities.

Councillor Natasha Davie, Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change, said:

"Reaching more than 1,000 live charging sockets is a significant milestone for West Sussex and shows how far the network has come since installations began in 2022.

"As a council, we want residents to have access to the infrastructure they need to support cleaner transport choices. Expanding the public charging network is an important part of that, helping to reduce transport emissions, improve air quality, reduce noise pollution, and ultimately protect our environment across West Sussex."

Councillor Erika Woodhurst-Trueman, Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Planning, said the expansion would make charging more accessible for households without their own parking facilities.

"Accessible public charging can be a significant challenge for residents who don't have their own driveway, so we are making sure that our network includes reliable charging points close to where people live.

"This milestone has been achieved through strong partnership working with our district and borough councils and Connected Kerb, and we'll continue working together to expand the network as demand grows."

The programme is being supported by the Government-funded Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Pilot Scheme, which is helping local authorities increase the availability of on-street charging.

As well as installing active charging points, the council is putting underground infrastructure in place to make it easier to add further sockets in the future.

This approach is intended to reduce the cost and disruption of future expansion as demand for electric vehicles increases.

Potential locations are assessed using several factors, including local demand, accessibility, parking availability, road safety and technical suitability.

Residents can find out more about the charging network and the council's plans by visiting the West Sussex County Council Electric Vehicle Strategy webpage.

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