Almost 3,000 public EV charging sockets planned across Devon and Torbay

Vehicle plugged into a charger in the front

Believ, char.gy and Wenea have been selected to deliver, operate and maintain the new infrastructure, which will include charging provision on residential streets, in public and community car parks, and through units attached to lamp columns.

Around £30 million is expected to be invested by the three companies, supported by an £8 million contribution from the Department for Transport’s Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) fund. Installation of the first charging points is expected to begin within the next few months.

A mix of charging locations

The programme has been divided between the three operators to support different types of locations and charging requirements.

Wenea will work with the councils and local district authorities to install more rapid and fast charging points in public car parks. The participating authorities include East Devon, Exeter, Mid Devon, South Hams, Teignbridge, Torbay and West Devon.

Believ will focus on standard charging units installed on streets and in parish and community car parks, while char.gy will provide charging points attached to existing lamp columns.

Using several installation types should allow the rollout to serve a mixture of urban, residential and rural locations rather than concentrating the investment in a small number of large charging sites.

Improving access to local charging

A major focus of the programme is improving access for residents who cannot install a charger at home, particularly those without a driveway or other off-street parking.

On-street and lamp-column charging can provide a more practical option for overnight or longer-duration charging, while the planned public car park installations will also support visitors and drivers who need a quicker charge during a journey.

Devon County Council and Torbay Council have both adopted EV charging strategies which identify the need for thousands of additional publicly accessible sockets to be operational by 2030.

A significant regional rollout

If delivered in full, the programme will represent a substantial expansion of public charging provision across Devon and Torbay and will extend infrastructure into smaller communities as well as larger towns and cities.

The announcement refers to almost 3,000 charging sockets rather than 3,000 individual charger units. Some installations may provide more than one socket, so the final number of physical charge points and locations may differ from the headline figure.

More detailed information on individual sites and installation schedules is expected to be released as the councils and appointed operators progress the rollout.