Lamp posts light the way for EV charging

THE first lamp post-mounted electric vehicle charging points in London have been installed, making EV ownership more accessible for residents. Southwark Council has fitted 50 points in two locations: Borough and Bankside, as well as Dulwich. The points have been provided by supplier Char.gy, which offers rolling contracts and pay-and-go.

The council says putting charging points on lamp posts is a great option as they use existing infrastructure and can be moved should demand fluctuate. It plans to fit more points in the near future, but hasn’t specified which areas will be next to benefit.

Similar innovations are being seen here in Scotland. This month The Herald’s Climate For Change campaign partner, Newton Property Management, announced it would be launching the first phase of an initiative that would see 50 new EV charging points installed by 2020.

Joint MD Derek MacDonald points out the campaign for change may start off small, even with only one charge point in a visitor space in a car park for a block of flats – but if it’s a choice between none and one, the first one can convince someone to buy an EV.

“Then we install the second and a third,” he says. “We are talking to owners’ associations in several large city centre developments throughout the country with a view to pre-wiring electricity supplies to every car park space. Hundreds of them.”