Electric cars in Brighton & Hove: why not more popular?

We cannot yet report that electric cars are going down a storm in Brighton & Hove. The council, however, seems to be doing thie best to try and spark a bit of interest.

The number of on-street charging points for Brighton and Hove's has been doubled. Two new charging stations have been installed on Madeira Drive and two at Withdean. The new points on Madeira Drive are on the seafront, close to Brighton Pier, the Royal Pavilion and the Brighton Wheel. At Withdean Stadium the points are ideally located for people using Withdean Sports Complex and Withdean Woods nature reserve. 

The other charging points are at Bartholomews in central Brighton and in Ditchling Road, opposite the Level.  Owners from across the UK can register to use the points with electricity and parking will be free for up to three hours.

A European scheme which promotes sustainable transport has helped fund the new vehicle charging stations. Brighton and Hove Council was awarded £2.2 million for small-scale transport projects by the Civitas initiative.

So we now have eight charging points for Brighton and Hove's 22 registered electric car users. Reminds us of the early days of Television, before the Second World War, when there were almost more BBC technicians and performers involved than there were viewers.

So not exactly caught the imagination of the public yet, then. 

Caroline Lucas, the Green Party's leader and MP for Brighton Pavilion may have a valid point when she says: "We have particular issues in Brighton as there are very few homes with garages and off-street parking.

"We know from research that most people prefer to charge up their vehicles at home, so that is more difficult in densely populated places like Brighton."

Indeed, who fancies laying an electricity lead across the pavement out of the front door every night to plug into the G-Whizz, or whatever the next generation of electric cars are called?

However, if you have a nice cosy garage, maybe the idea of having your own power source is increasingly attractive. As Ms Lucas says: "Electric cars are just one part of the jigsaw if we are to have sustainable transport."