The government’s Department for Transport is investing £37m into 12 different projects that are aimed at revolutionising the way Electric Cars and vehicles are charged. Businesses developing wireless EV charging and pop-up EV charge points are among the successful recipients of the funding.
The new investment has come a year after the introduction of the government’s ‘Road to Zero Strategy.’ This is a plan which wants at least half of new car sales to be ultra low emission by 2030 and almost every car and van in the UK to be zero emissions by 2050.
Char.gy has been awarded £2.3m of funding to develop and install wireless EV charging technology on residential streets. The company is already well known in the industry for installing EV charge points on existing on-street infrastructure such as lamposts.
CEO of Char.gy, Richard Stobart, said:
“Our consortium is delighted to be funded by Innovate UK to demonstrate induction charging on residential streets in Milton Keynes, the London Borough of Redbridge and Buckinghamshire County.”
“Working in collaboration with the Open University and The University of Warwick’s WMG we are excited to show that our ability to retrofit to existing electric vehicles and enable several parking bays per lamp column without the need for cables will accelerate the uptake of electric vehicles.”
Urban Foresight has won over £3m in funding. This is to install ‘pop-up’ chargers which emerge from the pavement. These are designed for use by electric car drivers who don’t have access to off-street parking. Virgin Media is involved in this project. Their infrastructure will be leveraged so that EV charging information and behaviour can be monitored and used.
The Department of Transport is also looking into EV charge points that can deliver fast charging without the need for expensive upgrades to electricity substations. Solar powered EV charging forecourts will also receive central investment.
Michael Ellis, the Mobility Minister, said:
“We’re charging up the transport revolution and investing in technologies to transform the experience for electric vehicle drivers.”
“Ensuring the charging infrastructure for electric vehicles is reliable and innovative is encouraging more people to join the record numbers of ultra-low emission vehicle users already on UK roads.”
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