The New Forest National Park Authority and BMW UK celebrate a milestone in its partnership today, as a new twin electric vehicle (EV) charging point officially goes live in the National Park.

New Forest National Park & BMW UK partner to connect EV drivers to nature

As well as enhancing the EV charging network, the pair’s collaboration will also see BMW fund the appointment of two apprentice rangers and support around 80 young people to better connect with nature and feel inspired to protect it.

To increase the availability of public EV charging options for both local people and visitors, the new twin charging point has been installed in the Jubilee Field Car Park in Sway, one of the New Forest’s most central locations. It means that more EV drivers can enjoy the unique beauty of the National Park’s ancient woodlands, wild heathlands and beautiful coastlines.

The installation is the latest win for the Recharge in Nature Project, which will see EV charge points installed across all 15 UK National Parks – from the Cairngorms in the Scottish Highlands down to Dartmoor in England’s South-West. By the end of the three-year partnership in 2025, there will be a total of 135 charge points thanks to the partnership.

Currently, the UK’s National Parks are visited over 100 million times each year – with 93% of these visits made by car. Enhancing the National Parks’ EV recharging network is consequently vital to enabling better access to the UK’s most precious wild landscapes for the lowest emitting and quietest drives.

BMW UK corporate communications director, Graham Biggs, says: “We are proud to be leading the charge towards more sustainable tourism in the New Forest, one of the UK’s most beloved landscapes and home to the famous free-roaming ponies. With EVs now accounting for over 18% of the UK’s new car sales and demand for them growing strongly, a fully-fledged EV charging infrastructure is essential to helping to decarbonise travel and tourism in and around the nation’s celebrated beauty spots. Our Recharge in Nature partnership with the UK National Parks is about adding to the spread of rural EV chargers to reduce driving emissions – as well as noise and air pollution.”