SOMERSET’S councils are taking a variety of measures to create more electric vehicle charging points across the county.

With demand for electric vehicles growing, and the ban on petrol and diesel vehicles being brought forward by the government, local authorities are looking to find ways of encouraging more drivers to make the switch.

But while the end goal is the same, not all councils are going after it in the same way – or approaching the problem from the same angle.

Here’s what Somerset’s four district councils are doing to make it easier for us to go electric:

Mendip’s method

Mendip District Council is working with the private sector to improve the number of charging points in its district.

The council’s cabinet agreed on February 3 that it would engage with a “third party” company to buy charging units on its behalf.

The company (which has not been identified) would pay for all the necessary infrastructure in return for having exclusive use of a given site, and would provide the council with some of the income earned from car charging.

Haylee Wilkins, the council’s group manager for neighbourhood services, said the private sector was already providing ample charging points in the area’s main towns and along the A39 and A361.

She added in her written report: “We should remain mindful that this would not specifically cater for residents of the district in terms of overnight charge and those living in rural areas.

“Most hybrid and electric vehicles have a range of 30 miles. As such, units placed in line with the major road infrastructure would assist those in rural areas when and if they were travelling to shop or access services.

“The private infrastructure in place would be seen to support the needs of visitors to the district and through-fare traffic, with our requirements centring more on those residents looking to park and charge within our car parks.”

Sedgemoor’s slow progress

Sedgemoor District Council has said it cannot put charging points in its car parks because there is not enough capacity within the local electricity grid.

A spokeswoman said: “We are not currently doing work to implement charging points on our land, as most of the substations in the area do not have the capacity for rapid charging.

“This is an issue we are looking into, with a view to at least provide charging points for staff at Bridgwater House. We are currently not looking into providing more points on private land.

“At the present moment we are looking into how we can encourage our own staff to purchase electric vehicles – for instance, by providing sufficient charging points at the council offices.”

Somerset West and Taunton’s schemes

Somerset West and Taunton Council is pursuing a range of different options – including providing funding for charging points in isolated rural areas within its district.

Town and parish councils are being encouraged to bid for grants of up to £1,500 towards installing charging points – the first successful bids being in Brushford, Luxborough, Stoke St Gregory and Trull.

The council is also planning to roll out charging points in all its car parks in the coming months.

Councillor Peter Pilkington, portfolio holder for climate change, updated the full council on Wednesday (February 26) about other progress being made.

He said in his written report: “We are in discussions to implement a staff salary sacrifice scheme for the purchase of electric vehicles, and we are working on the replacement of leased pools cars with electric cars, subject to a business case.”

South Somerset’s strategy

South Somerset District Council is still developing the fine details of its “electric vehicle infrastructure plan”.

It has, however, committed to providing more charging points within future developments through its environmental strategy.

A spokesman said: “In the strategy, we clearly state that by December 2020, we require electric vehicle charging points for new dwellings with parking spaces, and have set standards for the installation of charging points in parking spaces for non-residential development.”

The council has been working with Highways England to install three new charging points near the A303, which runs throughout the district.

Two of the three points – Wincanton and Ilminster – are currently operational, with the third at Ilchester due to ‘go live’ in around a week.