In Birmingham, road transport accounts for over 25 per cent of the city’s CO2 emissions. Nevertheless, in 2016 it was found that Birmingham has a relatively high uptake of electric cars.
The city was the sixth most popular place in the UK for electric car ownership. One in 169 cars in the city is electric. You’d be right in thinking this seems low, and there is certainly still a long way to go, but the city was found to perform better than the majority of the UK.
To encourage a wider uptake and consideration of switching to low-emission vehicles, Birmingham City Council is involved in a number of projects to help develop a network of electric vehicle charging points in the city. Doing so also helps those that chose to hire an electric or hybrid car in the city.
Earlier in 2017, Birmingham City Council was given a £2.9 million Department for Transport grant to install new charging points. Plans are in place to install close to 200 additional charging points in the centre including two super charging points at Tyseley Energy Park and Birmingham New Street Station’s Ellis Street car park.
There are already over 30 public charging points in Birmingham’s centre alone that make getting around easy for those that choose to hire a low-emission vehicle in Birmingham.
Outside of the centre, there are a number of other charging points spread around the outer-city and surrounding towns. You can look at the location of all the electric charging points in Birmingham here.
There are plenty of places in Birmingham’s centre that won’t require a hire car, unless you are staying out of the city centre. But attractions such as the Sealife Centre, Edgbaston cricket ground, Birmingham Botanical Gardens, Cadbury World and the NEC are all out of the city centre and more difficult to get to than those such as the Bullring and the Barclaycard Arena.
For weekend breaks, car hire is a convenient way of making sure you get to see all of Birmingham’s sites with ease.
However you travel to Birmingham, or if you’re already a resident of the city, Green Motion has branches at the two main transport links of the city that make it easy for you to continue your journey.
At Birmingham International airport, there is free charging for electric and hybrid cars. Green Motion’s airport branch is on the station concourse, making it easy to get from the airport to wherever your next destination may be; the hotel, business meeting or a family gathering.
If you’re travelling by train to Birmingham New Street Station, Green Motion has a branch there too to get you straight on the road.
Unless you are hiring an electric vehicle to test out the practicalities of making the switch to a low emission vehicle, the hirer will be visiting the city and may be unsure of how many charging points are in Birmingham. Knowing that there is an abundance on the car parks and streets in the city centre and surrounding areas makes the prospect of hiring a low emission vehicle even more appealing.
As experts in low-emission rental, Green Motion has a fleet of electric and hybrid cars with staff who can help you select the right vehicle. For more information, call us today on 0333 888 4000.