As we are all being encouraged to make the switch to electric vehicles, with Swindon Borough Council proposing making it a rule that every new house comes with a charging point built in, two senior councillors are fully charged up with the idea of moving away from petrol- or diesel-fuelled vehicles.

Keith Williams, the cabinet member for corporate services and Brian Ford, the member for adults’ services are both converts to the cause and are fully behind the council’s attempts to encourage more people to switch to electric vehicles.

Councillor Brian Ford, the cabinet member for adults’ services has been driving his fully electric Kia E-niro for two months - and loves it.

He said: “My previous car was a hybrid SUV with a petrol and electric engine. I really liked it but it would only give you 26 to 28 miles on a charge. If it had been 80 or 100 miles I probably would have kept it.”

“I wouldn’t go back, this is the way things are going. There are more than 13,000 charging points in the UK, about eight or 10 in Swindon and more every day.

“There is a drawback in that there are about for or five different providers and they all want a different card, for payment or access, so you’re carrying them about, or you have to have four or five apps on your phone. That will change I’m sure as things develop.

Coun Williams has been driving an electric car for about five years. He said: “I’m the one who persuaded Brian Ford to get his car.

“I know people ask where the electricity is generated, but we can make it really sustainable. Obviously, I’m right behind the new parking standards to make it easier for people. But I think we can go much further. I’d like us to get to the point where every new house is built with solar panels already fitted, and also has battery storage as well, so that on a sunny day, when people come back from work, they can charge their car over nigh using solar power.

“It’s what I do, and basically form March until October all the energy I use to drive myself about comes from solar.”

The councillors’ cabinet colleague Gary Sumner is the member for strategic planning and is the man in charge of the new proposed parking standards. He said: “The way to get more people to change to electric vehicles is to make it easier and more convenient for them. That’s why we are suggesting every house has a charger and that it’s a wallbox. We’ve been contacted by people living on new estates who are unable to charge an electric car because it would mean running a cable across the pavement.”

The new standards will go to public consultation during July and August.