A public consultation has being launched to assess Bristol's existing chargepoint network for electric vehicles.

The consultation includes a survey and focus groups and is run by Cenex and the Energy Saving Trust (EST) on behalf of Bristol City Council. They are seeking to identify any issues and find where additional infrastructure needs to go.

In January 2016, the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) announced that Bristol and the West of England authorities had been awarded £7.1 million of funding over five years to promote the uptake of electric vehicles ' including plug-in hybrids ' across the region.

OLEV's goal is to have virtually zero emissions on Britain's roads by 2050.

As part of its Go Ultra-Low West (GULW) programme, Bristol City Council aims to use its funding to install around 120 new public electric vehicle charging points across Bath and North-East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.

Cenex will identify candidate sites for public infrastructure and will be assess their feasibility with the Distribution Network Operator and local authorities. EST are taking the lead on gathering views and opinions of the chargepoint network.

GULW's target is to reach 5,000 new electric vehicle registrations-a-year by 2020 and expects to add up to 200 additional chargepoints to encourage take-up and meet demand of EV drivers.

Luke Redfern, business development and projects manager at Cenex, said: 'As one of the last few remaining free-for-use networks in the UK, the SourceWest chargepoint network has done an excellent job of supporting the uptake of low emissions vehicles in the region.

'To achieve the ambitious targets set by the Council we recognise that more chargepoints are needed to reduce charging and range anxiety.

'This is an excellent opportunity, for both existing and potential new low emission vehicle drivers, to input into the future of this network, and help us identify locations that will help electric vehicle driver numbers increase and ultimately improve air quality in Bristol'

Councillor Kye Dudd, cabinet member for energy for Bristol City Council, said: 'The move towards electric vehicles is one that the council is keen to support and it will help us to make significant improvements to our air quality.

'As well as upgrading our own vehicle fleet, we're determined to meet local demand for charging points to enable as many local residents and businesses as possible to own and run electric vehicles in the future'

The online survey asks questions related to how the network is run, accessed and people's experiences and driving habits. The survey is live here until Friday 9th March and everyone taking part will be entered into a prize draw to win £100 worth of Amazon vouchers.

Focus groups will be held during the week commencing 19th of February 2018 and anyone interested in attending should email transportadvice@est.org.uk.