Lincoln car park gets first county public electric charging point

A car park in Lincoln has become the first place in Lincolnshire to gain a public charging point for electric cars.

The facility at Lucy Tower Car Park cost £5,000 and aims to help the city reduce its carbon footprint, as part of the City Council’s Lincoln Green campaign.

Electric cars owners are now able to charge their vehicle for free when using the car park (parking charges apply), and two cars can use the charging point at once.

The electric charging point is on the top floor of the multi-storey car park.

Staff at the City of Lincoln Council will be testing the dual charger in the coming weeks, as Cenex loaned them an EV Smart Car for a pool car.

City of Lincoln council leader Ric Metcalfe test drives the EV Smart Car, which is on loan for four weeks.

The charging point comes shortly after the council installed LED lighting and photo cell sensors in some of its multi-storey car parks, which is not only environmentally friendly but also aims to save the council around £23,000 per year.

Lincolnshire’s lack of charging points was highlighted in a recent Top Gear episode, where two of the BBC show’s presenters ran out of power while testing electric cars and struggled to find a charging point in Lincoln.

As previously reported, car manufacturer Nissan vowed to donate a charging point to the city and invite Top Gear to use it, however they are yet to follow-up this proposal.

The University of Lincoln has also installed an electric car charging point outside its Engineering Hub, to be used by staff and students.

Meanwhile, Cenex have been installing charging points across the East Midlands, including Lincolnshire. However, the points in Market Deeping and Gainsborough are not publicly available.

City Councillor Fay Smith, Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services, said: “We’ve been working for some months now to install an electric car charging point in Lucy Tower Car Park, and we’re very pleased to be able to open it to the public.

“This is one of a number of Lincoln Green schemes we have ongoing to help reduce the city’s carbon footprint, such as installing solar panels on some of our properties and organising Lincoln’s first climate change conference.

“I think Lincoln, with its relatively small boundary, is the perfect place to own an electric car, so I hope it will be well used.”

To use the free charging point, electric vehicle owners will have to use their charging card. The cost of parking still applies.

Photos: Dominic Clark for The Lincolnite