The council initially put in place a free charging policy at both these locations, to encourage the uptake of electric vehicles and show how easy they are to us. This has been kept in place for the past four years.

Unfortunately, this is unsustainable going forward, and a low 20p per kWh tariff will be introduced on the 7kw chargers from Monday 12 August.

The council has worked closely with the charge point operators to keep the cost to users as low as possible, and the 20p per kWh tariff offers very good value for money.

As a comparison, the current electricity energy price cap for households is 22.36p per kWh and the average cost of using a public slow/fast charger is currently around 56p per kWh.

In May, newly appointed charge point operator, ZEST, installed 52 new 7kw EV charging bays at Time Square multi-storey car park. Four 50kw rapid EV charging bays will be installed later in the summer, with a tariff of 65p per kWh.

There are 12 EV Charging Bays (7KW), at Warrington West car park, operated by BP Pulse.

From 12 August, users can access the charge points as follows:

Time Square multi-storey car park

• Download the ZEST Charging App and enter your name, email address and post code, along with your credit/debit card details. You can then activate a charge either via the app or by scanning the QR code of the charger.
• If you would prefer not to set up an account or provide personal information, you can scan simply scan the QR code on the charger and enter your credit/debit card details to activate the charge.

Please note that a pre-authorisation fee of £20 will be in place for both of the above options.

Warrington West Train Station Car Park

• Download the BP Pulse charging app and set up a £7.85 per month subscription. This will give you access to a low 20p per kWh tariff, BP Pulse RFID card, a free month’s subscription, plus £45 credit over a five-month period. You will receive an invoice monthly, paid for by direct debit, which you set up when registering.
• If you prefer, you can use the app to set up ‘pay as you go’ via credit or debit card. This will give you access to BP Pulse’s Pay as You Go rate, currently 59p per kWh.

If you have any queries about the new charging tariffs, please email EV@Warrington.gov.uk