A new type of public charger is being installed on pavements across parts of the Capital, offering drivers with no off-street parking the chance to plug in at the kerbside.
Scottish firm Trojan Energy has been commissioned to install 570 of its ‘flat and flush’ chargers by Camden Council. Unlike conventional chargepoints, Trojan’s sockets are sunk into the pavement, with drivers keeping an attachment in their possession that they then plug into the ground, before plugging in their car.
The system allows councils to install kerbside EV chargers without the need for street furniture and cables by each point. All wiring is buried underground, with the necessary electronics kept out of sight in cabinetry that can be up to 100 metres away, and power a cluster of 15 individual sockets. Charge sessions are facilitated by drivers using a smartphone app.
Disability Rights UK had input into the charger’s design, which, due to its sunken nature, does not block the pavement when not in use. Funding for the chargers was partly supplied by central government via its On-street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS).
Trojan says it will install 70 points in July 2025, with 570 planned across Camden “subject to finding suitable locations”. The firm’s chargers are already being trialled in Aberystwyth, and formed part of a successful trial in 2022 with Barnet and Camden Councils.
Ian Mackenzie, Trojan’s chief executive, said the Camden project follows “the huge success of our trials in 2022”, while councillor Adam Harrison said the sockets “will help us meet the objectives we set out in Camden’s Transport Strategy”.
Roughly 35% of housholds in the UK have no access to off-street parking, a figure that rises to around 50% in London.
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