15,000 free parking spaces for electric vehicles created in Milton Keynes

Fifteen thousand free electric vehicle-only parking spaces have been created in Milton Keynes.

The scheme is the first in a series of UK initiatives designed to give people more reason to buy electric vehicles, and was funded using the Government 'Go Ultra Low Cities' funding.

The parking spaces come as the first part of a several stage plan for Milton Keynes, which includes adding charging hubs that can fast charge some EVs in just 30mins, destination chargers that are located at places such as residential areas, restaurants and shops, and giving EVs access to bus lanes in the town.

Transport Minister Andrew Jones said: “The Go Ultra Low Cities grant will also help to create an Electric Vehicle Experience Centre in the city.

“We are investing £600 million in cleaner, greener vehicles by 2020 to improve air quality, create jobs and achieve our goal of every car and van in the UK being zero-emissions by 2050.”

The other cities involved in this new EV initiative are Bristol, London and Nottingham, with each receiving £40 million in funding to encourage residents to buy and use EVs. Milton Keynes is the first to allocate much of its grant money to such a large-scale scheme.

Earlier this week, London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced plans to introduce an emissions-tackling 'T-charge' in central London. Unlike the Milton Keynes scheme, however, it doesn’t directly reward EV drivers for driving zero-emissions vehicles, instead penalising drivers of high-emissions vehicles.