Suffolk County Council is rolling out around 6,000 new public charge points across the county to help residents switch to EVs.

L-R: Matthew Ling and Amy Rushton of Suffolk County Council, Charlie Allen and Steve Beer of Believ

The new on-street and community charge points are being installed from summer 2025 in partnership with charge point operator Believ and are targeted at the 25% of Suffolk households that don’t have a driveway and park on their street.

Councillor Philip Fairclough-Mutton, Suffolk County Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment, Communities and Equality, said: “Our ambition is to provide them with a public charge point within a 5-10 minute walk or wheel.

“There are around 1.5 million EVs on the country’s roads and we need thousands of new public charge points in Suffolk, and we need them quickly – around 5,400 by 2030, and 12,000 by 2040. Working with Believ, our new installations will bring a significant reduction to those numbers.”

The huge charging project follow the county council’s successful £5.3m bid to the Government’s Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) fund, which supports local authorities to plan and deliver charging infrastructure for residents without off-street parking. This rollout uses a proportion of that funding along with more than £16m funding from Believ and equates to £21m committed capital investment.

It’s also the joint largest UK installation at 6,000 charge points, alongside the Brighton and Hove project also announced this week.

Following a competitive procurement exercise, Believ will install, operate and maintain the charge points, which deliver 100% renewable energy.

Suffolk County Council is said to be the first local authority in England to both award their LEVI main funding tender and subsequently sign a contract with an operator.

The new charge points will go live on residential streets, with many locations suggested by local residents following a survey last year.

The county council has also worked closely with district and borough councils and communities to identify further suitable sites.

The majority will be bollard-style units at the kerbside, suitable for long-stay or overnight charging. Drivers will be able to benefit from an overnight off-peak tariff, and a dedicated resident’s tariff which features discounted charging at all times.

Public car parks will also see a number of rapid and ultra-rapid charge point installations, allowing for quicker charging.

By helping residents and businesses to reduce their carbon emissions, the project will contribute to Suffolk’s Climate Emergency Plan, improving air quality in the county.

Believ will install a minimum of 2,100 on-street charge points and over 400 car park charge points by the end of 2026, increasing to a total of approximately 6,000 throughout the project as EV demand increases.

The charge point operator will also support with the installation of fast and rapid charging infrastructure at key locations, building on the county council’s successful ‘Plug In Suffolk’ project which launched in 2018.

Guy Bartlett, Believ CEO, said: “We’re delighted to have been awarded the opportunity to rollout such a significant number of charge points across Suffolk.

“It will make a real difference to local EV drivers and give others the confidence to go electric, helping to support our mission to deliver cleaner air for all. Through this project we forecast the removal of nearly 140,000 tons of emissions by the end of the initial phase in late 2026.”