Birmingham City Council in the UK has partnered with charging point operator ubitricity to carry out a pilot deployment of 560 lamppost charge points in residential areas of the city where access to private off-street parking is limited or unavailable.
The charging points will be installed in lampposts on 82 streets around the city. Each charger takes less than an hour to install, according to the company. The first 300 were installed between 15 October and 24 December, one of ubitricity’s fastest mass rollouts. The remaining 260 are to be installed before the end of Spring 2025.
A lack of access to overnight charging at home can act as a deterrent to EV ownership, the council stated. The initiative is part of the city’s wider EV charging strategy to improve access to charging infrastructure. The lampposts avoid street clutter while placing charging points based on resident demand and grid connection availability.
Ubitricity, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shell, will supply, install, own, operate and maintain the charging points on behalf of the council.
“Ubitricity is delighted to be supporting Birmingham City Council as they begin this journey to create one of the largest public EV charging networks outside London, encouraging the transition to electric vehicles,” said Stuart Wilson, UK Managing Director of ubitricity.
Source: Birmingham City Council