Electric vehicle charging is set to benefit from £37 million in funding from the UK Government as part of its Road to Zero strategy. The announcement has been made on the first anniversary of the strategy’s lunch, which looks to remove new petrol and diesel cars from sale in the UK by 2040.
The money will be split between 12 projects, which will support innovation in and expansion of the market. The key focuses will include solar-powered EV charging forecourts, underground charging set-ups, and wireless EV systems.
Wireless EV charging will receive more than £2 million in funding, with charge point company and network Char.gy set to deploy wireless charging technology on residential streets.
This will improve convenience for drivers, but also make the street environment safer, with no cables required at all. Instead, drivers with a wireless charging-enabled EV will be able to park up and charge with no need to plug in.
There are very few models on the market that currently offer wireless charging capability, though more are on their way, and it is the sort of system that could be retrofitted to many EVs. Trials will be carried out in Milton Keynes, the London Borough of Redbridge, and Buckinghamshire.
Pop-up charge points are set to receive investment too, with units set to be rolled out in Dundee and Plymouth, clearing up street furniture when it’s not needed on residential streets.
Funding will also be used to support a renovation project, which will install charge points in car parks to allow for large-scale charging at night. An energy storage and advanced electronics project will be capable of providing ‘semi-rapid’ fast charging using a low power grid connection, minimising the need for expensive substation upgrades.
There will also be a project that uses existing Virgin Media infrastructure – physical and online – to deliver widespread, cost-effective EV charging, using high-speed internet connections to share information about charging progress and parking spaces.
Image courtesy of Urban Electric.
