¹ú²úÊÓƵ

One hundred electric vehicle charging points are now fully operational at the ¹ú²úÊÓƵ’s Severn Campus, making the site one of the largest electric vehicle charging parks in Europe.

The car park, located on Hylton Road, is used by the University community and is also open to the public.

Situated behind the ¹ú²úÊÓƵ Arena, it is within easy walking distance of the University’s other campuses at St John’s and in the City, but also the City centre. With the festive period just around the corner, Christmas shoppers can park up and leave their car to charge while making the short walk over the bridge into the City centre.

Drivers pay to park and then pay separately for the electricity either through an app or contactless payment at the charger. Six of the charging points are 50 KWh rapid chargers. There are a further 200 standard car parking spaces on the site.

The University was awarded £3m from the Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) towards the development of the Severn Campus. The investment came as part of the Government’s Getting Building Fund from which Worcestershire was awarded £12m.

The University’s Pro Vice Chancellor for Students, Dr Tim Jones, said: “We’re committed to encouraging and inspiring more sustainable solutions among our University community and beyond.

“We’re really keen that the public should benefit from and make use of these forward-thinking facilities as much as University students and staff, and for those looking to do business or recreation in the City this is a great option. As Severn Campus sits on the outskirts of the City centre, this will also reduce the volume of traffic heading into the City centre.

“As an electric car owner myself, I know how important reliable chargers are – our chargers are reliable, easy to use and located in a well-lit car park. We also have a number of fast chargers which are really useful when you need to charge your car quickly.”

Councillor Zoe Cookson, Vice Chair of Worcester City Council’s Environment Committee, said: “The City Council adopted a new EV charging strategy in June, with the aim of making it easier for Worcester people to charge electric vehicles and we are pleased to see the University and LEP’s investment complement that of our own at St Martin’s Gate and King’s Street car parks.”

Danny Brothwell, Chair of Bike Worcester, a group that enables and encourages cycling as a mode of transport in the city, said: "It is great to see the University embracing and supporting more sustainable forms of transport in the City and providing such a huge number of chargers will ensure that drivers can rely on the service, removing a barrier to the use of electric vehicles, and the resulting improvement in air quality they bring. The University's new green infrastructure on this campus, including the new footway and cycleway linking St John's and Hylton Road, means the University is also promoting active travel. Bike Worcester look forward to working with the University in further enabling and encouraging more active travel in the city."