A London-based firm will develop an electric vehicle charging ecosystem for communities in more remote areas, where charging points are few and far between.
Connected Kerb will begin the campaign by installing 40 charging units across 20 poorly served Kent sites to improve accessibility for EV motorists. Affected areas including Gravesham, Kent or Castle Point, Essex, currently have just 3.7 and 2.2 chargers per 100,000 people respectively, compared with London’s 63 per 100,000, or 30% of the national total of EV chargers.
The company says the project will provide a blueprint for the UK’s local authorities to bring EVs to hard-to-reach areas, while fighting the disparity in the distribution of charging points.
“Access to charging infrastructure is one of the biggest barriers to the uptake of EVs. Although demand for chargers is higher in dense urban areas, the lack of infrastructure in out-of-town communities leaves people concerned about switching to EVs,” said Chris Pateman-Jones, CEO of Connected Kerb.
“Nobody should be left behind by the EV revolution because of where they live. Our partnership with Kent County Council shows that the economics of installing EV chargers in non-urban areas is much more favourable than many believe,” Pateman-Jones added.
Connected Kerb is relying on a business model that it says allows local authorities to provide all communities with accessible, low-cost and reliable EV charging.
The company plans to install chargers with a longer lifespan of more than 20 years, improve grid infrastructure with capacity to add more chargers at low cost, and integrate smart technologies such as 5G, air-quality monitoring, parking management and CCTV. The chargers will provide a 7kW–22kW fast charge.
The first wave of chargers are due to be in place by the end of May, with the second phase of installations currently in the planning stage. All income from the chargers will go to local communities or be used to install and maintain additional chargers.
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For some reason, Autocar's rubbish system for replying puts an Audi advert, and a list of site options over the text area on my phone - Bloody annoying!
You know that's going to be "fun" for the local rascals