Sutherland Avenue, in Westminster, has become the first residential street in the UK to successfully convert 24 lampposts into electric vehicle (EV) charge points.

The project – a collaboration between Siemens, ubitricity, and Westminster City Council – has utilised the existing city infrastructure along the half-mile street to create a simple, fast network.

Residents along Sutherland Avenue do not have the luxury of off-road parking, and can now charge their EVs at various locations along the street. Two adjoining roads are also due to be upgraded in the coming weeks.

“Lamppost charging gives people without driveways a very convenient, low cost, renewable, energy-friendly way to charge their EVs.

“Our technology is designed to keep installation and maintenance costs low, which translates to long-term low costs for EV drivers and councils,” said Daniel Bentham, managing director of ubitricity UK.

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Portsmouth City Council has become the latest local authority to take up street light charging as part of its electric vehicle infrastructure plans, which will see around 50 new charge points installed over the next few months.

Working with German firm ubitricity, the council has plans to roll-out the technology on 34 roads identified via resident requests, which determined where the chargers were needed most in residential areas across the city.

Those who requested a charge point will now be contacted by the council so the installation process can begin, although the initially selected locations may change subject to further consultation.

The three year trial will see ubitricity utilise the electricity provided by street light columns to charge EVs on a pay-as-you-go basis. Charging areas will be identifiable by a shared-use socket and a marked ‘electric vehicle charging’ bay.

Like London where street light chargers are also being installed, the solution has been selected to overcome the challenges presented by the lack of off-street parking for residents in the built-up city.

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Siemens has partnered with electric vehicle charging solutions provider ubitricity to transform hundreds of London’s street lamps into new on street chargers.

The company was one of eight to win a place on a city-wide framework contract hosted by Transport for London (TfL), the Greater London Authority and London Councils.

It will work with the Berlin-based company to deliver ‘Smart City’ EV charging points, which use mobile electricity metering technology to allow existing street lights to share electricity supply with an EV charge point.

Drivers connect to it using a cable fitted with a meter that identifies the charging point and turns on the power. The data is sent digitally to a mobile power supplier who would bill for the electricity consumed, while those using a standard cable would be authorised through a mobile site.

Both the boroughs of Wandsworth and Kensington and Chelsea have committed used lamp post charging in their EV infrastructure schemes to overcome the lack of on street parking facilities in the capital.

Chris Beadsworth, director at Siemens Energy Management, said: “By using existing infrastructure, it will provide a quality, convenient and simple charging point to help accelerate the increase in privately owned electric vehicles. Our aim is that charging your car should be as simple as charging your phone.

“Working together with our partners we make a cleaner more modern energy network a reality whilst delivering benefits for UK consumers without compromise.”

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