Ironbridge Gorge 'perfect spot' for electric car chargers

Shropshire has only 23 chargers across the whole county, compared to 54 across Worcestershire.

There were 95,000 electric vehicles registered across the country up to April 2017, compared to 3,500 in 2013.

But despite the large increase in the number of electric cars on the roads, Cath Edwards, chairwoman of green volunteer group Newport 21, said a rapid rise in the number of chargers wouldn't be economically viable.

Instead, key tourist areas should be targeted so that visitors travelling a long way to visit Shropshire don't have to worry about the distance travelled.

"The vast majority of people who have electric vehicles are going to charge at home," she said.

"The only time you'll need chargers is if you've travelled a long way. The best place to have them is at service stations and key tourist areas, otherwise they're so expensive to put in that it's probably not economically viable.

"It wouldn't be beneficial to fill the county with chargers, certainly in Shropshire. They need to be places where people will be parked all day. You can't have it with on-street parking, because it just wouldn't work. People would have to be there too long.

"The Ironbridge Gorge could use one. It's one of those places where you can park at the Park and Ride, go on the bus, do all the shops and let your car charge while you're away. If it's a slow charger, it wouldn't be too expensive to set up."

Ms Edwards welcomed the increased number of electric vehicles on the roads, but said she expected a drop in the next year.

"I suspect that it'll probably go down this year, because the tax incentives are being removed.

"There's new tech just around the corner too. Nissan are just about to launch a new battery. People are hanging on and seeing what the new technology will offer before they make the purchase.

"But if you're a person who does a lot of local journeys, there's absolutely no reason not to have an electric vehicle."

On her home patch in Newport, Ms Edwards believes Waitrose could be a good place for chargers.

"People travel from Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton to visit our Waitrose, so personally I think that would be a good place.

"There's quite a few electric vehicles in the town, but most of them would charge their cars at home. For those who are travelling into the town, they could part, have a couple of hours doing their shopping and come back to a full charged car. That would be a good spot."

Newport 21 is a volunteer based community action group dedicated to helping find ways to live more sustainably and develop new low carbon lifestyles.