Last month (October 2022), BMW UK announced a three-year partnership with National Parks UK called ‘Recharge in Nature’. The partnership aims to make the UK’s 15 National Parks more accessible for electric cars and to support nature restoration, biodiversity, sustainability and well-being projects.
The UK has 15 National Parks - 10 in England, 3 in Wales and 2 in Scotland. Each Park is free to enter and collectively, they are visited more than 100 million times each year. It's estimated that 90% of these visits are made by car and with the growth of electric cars, pressure on the limited recharging networks across the National Parks is growing.
BMW’s Recharge in Nature project is hoping to resolve this, enabling easy access to these beauty spots for the lowest emitting and quietest vehicles on the road with the installation of Pod Point recharging posts at key locations across the 15 National Parks.
Installation of the recharging posts has already started. Being England’s largest and most visited National Park, it makes sense that the Lake District is one of the first Parks to benefit from the Project. Here, EV Charging stations have been installed at the northern end of Lake Windermere - Waterhead car park, which is just 1 mile from the popular town of Ambleside. Other locations include Hawkshead, which saw its first public charging points installed, and Coniston, home to the Old Man Of Coniston.
Richard Leafe, CEO of Lake District National Park, said:
In the Lake District, we are aiming to be a net zero National Park by 2037 and one of the best ways to achieve this is by reducing carbon emissions from visitor travel. Our partnership with BMW is a significant step towards this, giving visitors and communities a wider choice of sustainable travel options, meaning we can all play a part in continuing to protect and enhance this special place.
In addition to adding electric-vehicle charging infrastructure throughout the National Parks, BMW UK will also work with National Parks UK to support locally delivered initiatives, focussed on enabling more sustainable tourism, nature restoration, biodiversity and well-being. These projects, one in each National Park, will enable the Parks to promote more sustainable UK tourism, enhance well-being, and to restore nature and biodiversity, helping the National Parks to progress faster and with greater impact in these priority areas.
The first Recharge in Nature Fund grant will support the restoration of dew ponds in South Downs. These small ponds typically support around 70% of all freshwater species found in lowland landscapes. 2023 will see projects commencing in Snowdonia, Dartmoor and Loch Lomond & The Trossachs with the other 11 National Parks to be confirmed at a later date.
Chris Brownridge, CEO of BMW UK commented;
Sustainability is at the heart of our business and enhancing the EV recharging network in the UK’s National Parks will help to make these favourite destinations more accessible for the increasing numbers of drivers who choose an electric car, as well as to support local communities in their shift to the new technology. With biodiversity and the health of UK nature more important than ever before, we are also pleased to support a range of local projects within the Parks to help preserve these precious landscapes for the future.
You can read more about electric cars in our news section, including their advantages and benefits. To explore our range of electric cars, visit our dedicated BMW, MINI, Porsche, Land Rover and Jaguar pages, or view all available models here.
