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Falkirk Council has secured a multi-million pound funding award to support work that will make it easier to charge and use electric vehicles across the area.

The Plugged in Falkirk Project will receive up to £2.5m from the Scottish Government’s Switched on Towns and Cities Challenge Fund and the Local Authority Installation Programme.

The money will support the installation of 106 electric vehicle (EV) bays across the Council area. This will include a 32 bay EV charging hub at Meeks Road and 64 EV charging points located at:

  • Forth Valley Royal Hospital
  • West Bridge Street
  • Williamson Street
  • Bantaskine Road
  • Millennium Wheel Drive
  • Kemper Avenue

The funding will also help establish an EV car club that will initially operate as a two year pilot and provide 10 vehicles for public use. The cars will be situated in locations with existing or planned EV infrastructure with an additional 10 charging points installed in Larbert, Stenhousemuir, Bainsford and Westquarter.

Chris Cox, Sustainable Transport Coordinator, and Project Manager of the Green Travel Plan and Review of Transport, said: “The funding helps the Falkirk area increase its green credentials and provides a growing number of EV owners with easy to access charging points, while the introduction of the EV car club will help maximise the social benefits of the funding programmes and reduce dependency on privately owned fossil fuelled vehicles.”

The remaining funding will be used to procure 36 EVs that will be added to the Council’s fleet, including two EV minibuses that will be used by Social Work, and six vehicles will boost the fleets of project partners, NHS Forth Valley and Forth Valley College.

Pat Taggart, Fleet Manager, and Project Manager of Smart Working, Smart Travel, said: “The funding will enable the Council to further enhance its fleet in a carbon neutral way, allowing us to replace older diesel vehicles and in turn reduce our CO2 emissions. The supporting charging point infrastructure will make it even easier for residents, visitors and Council employees to charge their vehicles and hopefully will encourage others to invest in electric vehicles in the future.”

The funding package was announced on June 24th as work started on a new EV charging hub outside the Falkirk Stadium.

The hub will be developed using £500k secured through the Transport Scotland Low Carbon Travel and Transport Challenge Fund, with money provided by the Scottish Government and the European Regional Development Fund.

The 26 EV charging bays at the stadium are expected to be operational by the autumn and will provide electricity partly generated by a solar canopy.