UK government investing in electric chargepoint infrastructure

The UK government has unveiled plans to invest £37mn in developing the UK’s electric chargepoint infrastructure. A total of 12 projects will share the funding, which will support innovative developments including solar-powered forecourts, underground charging systems and electric vehicle (EV) wireless charging technologies.

The announcement came on the first anniversary of the government’s Road to Zero Strategy, which sets out measures to clean up road transport and place the UK in a leading position to develop, manufacture and use zero emission road vehicles. The government claims the strategy has driven a 60% increase in battery EV registrations this year compared to the same period in 2018.

Urban Foresight, a smart city consultancy, has been awarded over £3mn with Urban Electric to demonstrate Urban Electric’s ‘pop-up’ changing hubs, which are built into the pavement and provide a discreet, safe and low-cost charging solution for EV drivers without access to off-street parking.

Further projects to receive funding include:

• A renovation project, installing chargepoints in car parks to allow for mass charging at night.
• A project leveraging Virgin Media’s existing cable ducts, broadband street cabinets and online infrastructure to deliver cost-effective and widespread electric charging points, using high speed internet connections to better share information online on charging progress and parking spaces.
• A storage and advanced electronics project that will deliver semi-rapid charging using a low power grid connection minimising the need for costly substation upgrades.

Char.gy, an electric charging company, has been awarded over £2.3mn and will use the funding to develop deploy wireless charging technology on residential streets without the need for trailing cables and additional infrastructure.