Siemens is lauding the completion of the UK’s first residential avenue to be fully converted to lamppost charging.
Sutherland Avenue – which is over half a mile in length – is located in the City of Westminster, London. The installation of 24 lamppost chargers – with a charging point going into every lamppost on the avenue – was delivered in collaboration with ubitricity and Westminster City Council.
The avenue has now been coined Electric Avenue W9, with two adjoining roads to also be completed within the coming weeks.
Westminster has seen a 40% growth in the EVs charged in the borough during 2019, with plans to reach a thousand charge points across the area within the next year.
Westminster City Council has more EV charge points than any other UK local authority, Siemens said, with a total of 296 lamp column charge points in the city, including the 24 on Electric Avenue W9.
Bernard Magee, sales director of Future Grid at Siemens, said the company is excited to have completed its first fully converted avenue in light of the petrol and diesel ban drawing closer.
The two companies have now completed over 1,300 installations across London, with funding from the Go Ultra Low Cities Scheme.
“Lamppost charging gives people without driveways a very convenient, low cost, renewable, energy-friendly way to charge their EVs,” said Daniel Bentham, managing director of ubitricity UK, pointing to how cars spend the majority of their lives idle, meaning it “makes sense” to charge them when the driver is doing something else.
“Our technology is designed to keep installation and maintenance costs low, which translates to long-term low costs for EV drivers and councils,” Bentham added.
Siemens first announced it was partnering ubitricity in August 2018, being one of eight companies to win a place on a London-wide framework contract hosted by Transport for London, the Greater London Authority and London Councils.
