‘UK’s first’ solar EV charging station among winners of £37m fund

The Department for Transport (DfT) will spend £37m on ‘transforming’ electric charge point infrastructure, including projects to deliver wireless charging technology and a scheme that will see EVs charged by solar panels.

Urban Foresight, a smart city consultancy, has been awarded over £3m to roll out ‘pop-up’ chargers which are built into the pavement and provide a discreet, safe and low-cost charging solution for electric vehicle drivers without access to off-street parking.

Char.gy, an electric charging company, has been awarded over £2.3m and will use the funding to develop deploy wireless charging technology on residential streets without the need for trailing cables and additional infrastructure.

Gridserve will also receive funding to develop the UK’s first solar electric forecourt, which will charge EVs using solar energy.

Future of Mobility Minister, Michael Ellis, 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.’

In 2019, 11,975 battery electrics have been sold, representing a 60.3% growth in sales compared with 2018.

However, EVs still represent less than 1% of the total market share for new cars.

Last month Deloitte warned that the UK will need to spend £1.6bn on 28,000 public EV charge points for the estimated seven million EVs that will be on the road by 2030.

The DfT has provided Environment Journal with the following information about the different schemes recommended for funding.