Residential street fully fitted with EV charge points unveiled

Sutherland Avenue, Westminster, is the UK’s first residential avenue fully converted to provide lamppost EV charge points.

18th March 2020 by barnabyd

Residential street fully fitted with EV charge points unveiled

Unveiled by Siemens, the 24 charging points have been installed in collaboration with ubitricity and Westminster City Council, using existing city infrastructure.

Residents can now charge EVs at various locations along Sutherland Avenue, with a further two adjoining roads due to be completed in the coming weeks.

The launch 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.

This makes it the biggest factor deterring motorists from purchasing an electric or hybrid vehicle. Data shows 80% of motorists in central London believe it is ‘very important’ that air quality is improved, and 83% have become more concerned about their carbon footprint in the past five years.

Last year, Westminster saw a 40% growth in EVs charged in the borough.

Powering ahead

Westminster City Council currently has more EV points than any UK local authority, with a total of 296 lamp column charge points in the city, it has twice the number of locally registered EVs than any other inner London borough, and the most among all the other London boroughs.

Siemens and ubitricity have now completed over 1,300 installations covering the breadth of the city, significantly funded from the Go Ultra Low Cities Scheme, supporting Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan’s #LetLondonBreathe campaign and leading the way to improve London’s air quality.

Cllr Andrew Smith, Westminster City Council Cabinet Member for Environment & Highways, said: “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. ‘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.”

Deputy Mayor for the Environment and Energy, Shirley Rodrigues, said: “Our bold action to tackle the capital’s air pollution and climate threats is sparking a revolution in electric transport in the capital. Last year, more than 140 organisations supported the Mayor’s EV Infrastructure Taskforce – developing a plan on how to expand public charging points across the capital. This sort of innovation is what we have been calling for and it will go a long way to support our growing charging network.”