Electric vehicles

The UK government's Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEV) Mandate requires that 80% of all new vehicles sold in Great Britain are zero-emission by 2030.

As a result of this mandate, the percentage of electric vehicle (EV) ownership in Wiltshire is expected to rise from 3.8% in 2024, to around 34% by 2030. This will cause a significant increase in demand for EV charging from residents, businesses, and visitors.

Over recent years we have created the following key documents to guide our strategic direction and help develop Wiltshire's EVI.

Wiltshire Council Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure (EVCI) Plan 2021 to 2024

In response to the council acknowledged climate emergency, we created a three-year EV Charging Infrastructure Plan (PDF, 1MB) (opens new window) in 2021, identifying short, medium, and long-term actions the council can take to meet the growing demand for EV charging in the county.

The plan helped the council achieve the following goals:

• replace and upgrade all council operated public chargepoints
• increase the number of chargepoints in council owned car parks
• ensure all settlements of 10,000 people or more have access to council operated public chargepoints (except Calne, due to a legal dispute delaying installation)
• support Parish and Town Councils with funding and advice to run their own EVI projects
• put in place new contracts for building, maintaining and managing charging infrastructure
• keep council operated public chargepoint prices competitive

The plan covered 2021 to 2024, a short period for strategic documents, reflecting the need to respond and adapt to the pace of innovation in the EVI sector and zero-emission transport in general.

Medium and long term actions identified in the EVI Plan (2021) have been reviewed and updated appropriately. Most have now transferred to the updated Wiltshire Local Transport Plan (LTP4) and been carried through to the next EVI Strategy.

Local Transport Plan 4 (LTP4), EVI Sub Strategy

Local Transport Plans (LTP) are strategic documents that guide the local implementation of national transport policies. They outline long-term transport strategies, medium-term implementation plans, and supporting policies, but don't detail specific transport projects.

Our previous LTP, the third we have published (covering 2011 to 2026), aimed to support long term economic growth and provide safe access to essential services while being environmentally sensitive and reducing carbon emissions. The political recognition of a climate emergency, and the rapid development of the EV market, meant our fourth and latest Local Transport Plan (LTP4) must address electric vehicles.

LTP4 (covering 2025 to 2038) was adopted by Wiltshire Council in March 2025 and its vision is:

A safe and connected transport system which protects the country's unique built, natural and historical environment making this accessible for all, supports sustainable economic growth across Wiltshire's communities and contributes to a low carbon future.

LTP4 includes an EV Infrastructure sub-strategy which identifies current county EVI status and predicted future demand. Responding to the specific demands of Wiltshire it goes on to identify the following 10 specific measures, key to guiding the council's future actions:

1. increase on-street public chargepoints at scale, focusing on areas of demand where residents have no off-street parking
2. encourage and facilitate chargepoint provision in new developments and refurbishments
3. ensure public chargepoint locations are data-led and community informed
4. support the roll-out of rapid chargepoint hubs by the commercial sector, ensuring they are appropriately located
5. investigate the use of cable channel products to enable safe cross-pavement on-street home charging
6. support EV uptake in corporate fleets and car clubs
7. support and publicise regional and national schemes which help make EVs more affordable
8. develop policies to support increasing the number of EV taxis
9. ensure new chargepoints are accessible to drivers whilst minimising any impact on footway users
10. ensure new public chargepoint locations provide for deprived areas and isolated rural communities

The plan aims to support the transition to low and zero-emission vehicles, contributing to a more sustainable future. For full details on our LTP4 EVI Sub Strategy, see: LTP4 Strategic Transport sub-strategy (PDF, 2 MB)(opens new window).

Wiltshire's Draft Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (EVI) Strategy 2025 to 2028

An updated EVI strategy is being developed, guided by the measures in the LTP4 EVI sub-strategy. Where appropriate, it will also include medium and long term measures from the previous EVI Plan (2021 to 2024).

Planned for publication in Autumn 2025, the new strategy will adopt the following principles:

• right charger, right place: offer a range of charger types and speeds to suit local needs and locations
• data-led, community-informed: use robust data to lead decisions whilst ensuring community engagement influences outcomes
• build future-ready infrastructure:
  • avoid locking into outdated technology by planning for upgrades
  • design contracts that allow flexibility for future changes in the EV sector
• support the LEVI project: adopt strategies that support this major upcoming investment