Westminster City Council has joined up with Siemens in order to deliver the UK’s first avenue that has been fully converted to provide lamppost electric vehicle charging points.
Residents of Sutherland Avenue in Maida Vale now have access to 24 electric vehicle (EV) charging points attached to the half-mile-long street’s lampposts.
The launch of the ‘Electric Avenue, W9’ follows research conducted by Siemens showing over a third (36%) of British motorists planned to buy a hybrid or electric vehicle as their next car, with two in five people (40%) saying that a lack of charging points stopped them from doing so sooner.
‘In a city that suffers from some of the worst air pollution in the country, we need to be supporting the change to green technology as much as we can,’ said Cllr Andrew Smith, Westminster City Council Cabinet member for Environment & Highways.
‘“Electric Avenue, W9” gives us a glimpse into the future of streets in Westminster, where we hope to provide the infrastructure needed for our residents to make the switch to cleaner, greener transport.’
Cedrik Neike, Member of the Managing Board of Siemens AG and CEO of Siemens Smart Infrastructure, commented: ‘We know that half of London’s air pollution is caused by road transport and Westminster is a particularly busy area.
‘While we cannot solve the challenge of air quality overnight, “Electric Avenue W9” is an important showcase of what’s possible using existing city infrastructure. It illustrates how residential streets will look in the near future, and accelerates the shift to zero emission vehicles.’
Daniel Bentham, managing director of ubitricity UK which also helped deliver the project, said: ‘Lamppost charging gives people without driveways a very convenient, low cost, renewable, energy-friendly way to charge their EVs.
‘Cars spend 95% of their lives idle, so it makes sense to charge them while the driver is doing something else, like sleeping or working. Our technology is designed to keep installation and maintenance costs low, which translates to long-term low costs for EV drivers and councils.’
