Plug in Suffolk news

10th September: An Introduction to EVs & EV Charging for Councillors

Calling all councillors!

If you’re looking to increase your knowledge of Electric Vehicle Infrastructure, Energy Saving Trust are running multiple webinars titled “An introduction to EVs and EV charging for Councillors.”. These events are pitched specifically towards supporting councillor knowledge, providing you with an introduction to electric vehicles, policy updates, mythbusting and the role of local authority members.

With the Plug in Suffolk programme well underway, it’s a fantastic opportunity to increase your knowledge on the value of the electric vehicle projects.

These webinars are free to attend and are only for local authority councillors. You can sign up at the Energy Saving Trust website. 

15th August: Three more car clubs have arrived in Suffolk

Throughout the Summer months, 14 electric vehicles were placed in seven locations across Suffolk. Two cars with a range of over 200 miles have been placed in Sudbury, Hadleigh, Needham Market, Bury St Edmunds, Woodbridge, Stowmarket and Norfolk Road, Ipswich. Car clubs gives you the opportunity to simply book a car for minutes, hours or days, cutting out the expense of ownership. The Plug In Suffolk Car Club is just one way that Suffolk’s local authorities are helping to create a net zero Suffolk. This project delivers on two of the Suffolk Climate Emergency Plan’s goals; a reduced number of cars on the road and an increased proportion of vehicles on the road that are low or zero emission.

Over the next few months, car club vehicles are due to be delivered to each of the following further locations:

• Newmarket
• Lowestoft
• Ann Street, Ipswich
• Leiston

To join the car club, visit co-wheels. Suffolk residents can use promo code Suffolk15 to get free membership and £15 credit on their account. After becoming a member, vehicles can be booked via the website, Co Wheels app or over the phone.

28th July: A successful EVEX 2025 at Trinity Park, Ipswich - Special report by Peter Frost

Wednesday 9th & Thursday 10th July 2025: For the first time, the Electric Vehicle Experience Day was split over two events, each with their own focus.

The first day focused on the huge array of electric passenger vehicles available. Visitors were able to enjoy a choice of test drives in all the latest models, with most new cars on the market available to view with a wide range of test drives available. The Trinity Park perimeter track was busy the whole day with visitors making use of the fantastic opportunity to try all the cars they were considering. Additionally, there was an autonomous bus taking visitors for a ride with no driver and no steering wheel, allowing passengers to experience a true robot taxi for the first time.

When not test driving, there were fascinating discussions going on inside the conference centre as well as stands with experts on hand to answer queries about technology, charging solutions and finance techniques to run the car you want, covering all aspects of the EV ownership experience in one place. There were interviews on GenX Radio which was broadcasting live from the event all day, the official launch of the Plug in Suffolk Car Clubs, and even biscuits in the shape of car!

Thursday saw a change of emphasis, with the far side of Trinity Park taken over by lines of Electric HGV’s, vans, and trucks. Representatives from various business sectors were able to see and test drive how advanced electric freight haulage has become and learn how the future is here, now. There were also trade talks from representatives and influencers from the industry which gave a fascinating insight into how this is going to shake up the transport sector in the foreseeable future. Overall, the day was a revelation of how something that was considered impractical just a few short years ago, is now seen as inevitable and businesses are on the edge of this revolution.

Many thanks to our delivery Partners at EVdriver and Ground Transport Group, as well as our Hosts at Trinity Park who all did such a fantastic job of bringing this first-of-its-kind event to reality.

Go to the Ground Transport Group website to see a video of event highlights and recordings of the panel discussions. 

28th July: Newsflash - the electric car grant is back!

On the 14th July, the government announced the relaunch of the electric car grant. Read all about it at gov.uk.