Electric car charging points installed at Southampton Airport five weeks ago have already been making an impact on the UK hub’s emissions output. The free charging bays have saved 205KW in their first weeks of operation, the equivalent to saving 143kg (315 lb) of carbon dioxide emissions from the local atmosphere.
There are six charging bays in the airport’s public car parks, with four in short stay and two in priority parking. With no extra charges for this service, drivers simply hook up to a charging point and pay normal parking rates. Local drivers are also encouraged to visit and park in an available bay to recharge their vehicles.
Dave Lees, managing director, Southampton Airport, said, “The number of drivers switching to EVs is increasing exponentially. These drivers need access to public charging as they go about their lives, and we need to make sure we’re meeting the needs of this particular group of customers. We’re also pleased to be helping build the UK’s charging infrastructure with this installation.
“In the future we may install more charge points, but for now we’ll monitor usage of these along with feedback from our customers. And, we’ll be tracking our CO₂ emissions to see what savings we are making in this area.”
The airport estimates that the charging bays will save around 1,500kg (3,306 lb) of carbon dioxide emissions in their first year, equivalent to the amount of greenhouse gas from an average passenger car driven 4,375 miles (7,040km).