THE installation of new electric vehicle charging points in the Yorkshire Dales National Park will be welcomed by people visiting the area in EVs, says the chair of the park authority.

A total of 12 new EV points have gone live in the Dales - at the national park's visitor centres in Malham and Grassington, and also at the Dales Countryside Museum in Hawes. They have funded by BMW UK through its Recharge in Nature partnership with National Parks UK.

Neil Heseltine, chair of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority and National Parks Partnerships’ Board Member, said: “The Yorkshire Dales National Park alone welcomed 5.1 million visitors in 2022. We’re so pleased that our partnership with BMW UK will support those who are travelling to Yorkshire’s national parks in electric vehicles, to do so with more confidence.

"Part of our responsibility as national parks is to conserve and enhance the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage of our parks and this includes facilitating more sustainable journeys to Yorkshire’s national parks.”

The Recharge in Nature partnership is on track to install EV chargers across all 15 of the UK’s national Parks by the end of 2025. The three-year initiative supports the use of electric cars both for visitors and also for those who live and work in the national parks – and so help to reduce both emissions and noise pollution in the precious landscapes.

Graham Biggs, corporate communications director, BMW UK, said: “The UK’s EV infrastructure rollout is continuing at pace and we need to see this accelerate to reach at least 300,000 charge-points by 2030. It’s important that the distribution of these chargers is spread right across the UK and we need to ensure that our countryside is brought up to speed with the bigger cities.

"Access to nature for everybody is so important and we’re pleased to be supporting the Recharge in Nature partnership to enable and encourage this through EV infrastructure, bus services and community engagement programmes.”