Nearly 100 on-street charging points for EVs in Portsmouth have been disconnected after safety concerns were raised by Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN).
The concerns relate to how the charging points were installed, using the electricity supply from lamp columns and, following advice from SSEN, Portsmouth City Council decided to disconnect all 98 on-street charging points.
The infrastructure for the points, which have operated since 2019, is overseen by the installing company who is responsible for liaising with the electricity distribution network operator (DNO), in Portsmouth – this is SSEN.
The charging points were installed by ubitricity or Joju, depending on when they were introduced, and between them the companies are responsible for thousands of similar on-street charge points elsewhere in the country.
Following notification from SSEN of their safety concerns, as a precaution the charging points have been turned off while the situation is investigated.
It is not known how long the charge points will be out of action; the council has instructed both Joju and ubitricity to work with SSEN to resolve the situation as soon as possible.
Residents with EVs are being advised to use public charge points at other locations around the city.
Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson, cabinet member for transport, said “I’m extremely disappointed we have had to take this decision, but we can’t ignore concerns from SSEN. It is now up to Joju and ubitricity to make sure the charging points are back up and running as soon as possible and we’ll be pushing them to make this happen.
“As someone who uses them, I know this will be a huge inconvenience to all the people who use our on-street charging points and we’re very sorry for the disruption. There are a number of public charging points still available which people can use and we’re putting details of these at all of the disconnected charging points and on our website.”
