Motorists get the green light to charge ahead with lamp posts
UK Power Networks has issued revised guidance to use lamp posts to charge electric vehicles.
The operator says that a series of studies undertaken has proven 5kW charge points can be installed even on older lamp posts which have thinner cabling than more modern installations.
They worked with the UK’s largest public charge point operator, Shell ubitricity to undertake technical assessments, and have now updated their technical guidance to provide confidence to the energy industry to deliver a large-scale roll-out of lamp post charging.
The revised guidance is expected to help electric vehicle owners in towns and cities, where it is estimated that up to 60% of people do not have access to off-street parking. It will allow all 133 local authorities operating in the area UK Power Networks with the ability to connect faster 5kW charge points to their lamp posts.
Local authorities will also now be able to push ahead with their plans to increase the number of chargers through the government’s Local EV Infrastructure Fund. ubitricity internally estimates that for a budget of £1m local authorities could roll out 700-800 lamp post chargers compared to 60-75 Fast Dual charge points (7-22kW) or 20-25 Rapid Single charge points.
The UK government’s electric vehicle infrastructure strategy states that by 2030 between 300,000 and 700,000 public charge points will be needed to serve up to 10 million electric vehicles forecasted to be on the nation’s roads.
Mark Adolphus, director of Connections at UK Power Networks said:
“This is great news for customers and lights the way for a vast swathe of new electric vehicle charging stations across the region we serve. It underlines the importance of networks collaborating with the wider energy industry to ensure they can deliver with confidence and certainty.”
Stuart Wilson, market unit Lead at ubitricity said:
“Lamp post charging helps local authorities to rollout out charging infrastructure at scale and allows EV drivers to charge their cars close to home. Over 8 million households in the UK do not have access to off-street parking and without strong public EV charging infrastructure, there is a legitimate concern that people without a driveway will be left behind in the transition to electric vehicles in the UK. This is great news for EV drivers and we are proud to have collaborated with UK Power Networks on this guidance”.
Related Content
Housing association to deliver £72m retrofit programme to 3,000 homes
How a project using Ordnance Survey data is supporting the rooftop solar panel drive
- © Ocean Media Group