Plans have been submitted by Tesla for a new electrical vehicle supercharging facility in the Orton Goldhay area in Peterborough.
The development will include 16 parking bays, manoeuvering space, and separate access and egress points onto Paxton Way. Each individual space will have its own charging post as well as a substation and cabinets to convert the power from the substation to the charging bays and power the units.
The parking bays will be served by a one-way system with access off Paxton Road. This road already services a Starbucks, petrol station, and links main roads.
The plans say that the charging units will have a “modern design that will minimise the visual impact” and “would not be harmful to [the] character and appearance of the area”. The document also notes that the use of EVs in itself will “limit noise and air pollution”, and the provision of charging stations will boost the transition to more electric vehicles.
The proposals to install new EV charging stations come after the UK committed to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, with electric vehicles being one way of reducing emissions. In May 2019, the Committee for Climate Change (CCC) suggested that all new vehicles should be electrically powered by 2035 or sooner in order to achieve the net zero target.
The plans say that there is an increased demand for EV charging, stating that in 2023, 17.8 percent of new car registrations in the UK were battery electric vehicles (BEV), with a further 7.4 percent being plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV).
But despite these increases, the number of public electric charging devices installed in the UK stagnated to just 62,536 as of May 1 2024, according to the Department for Transport.
Peterborough City Council declared a climate emergency in July 2019, and has subsequently adopted a Climate Action Plan in 2023. One of the key Council recommendations to help reduce the city’s carbon footprint is to support the implementation of EV charging infrastructure and the switch to electric vehicles.
The applications is still awaiting a decision.