SSE Enterprise is to develop electric vehicle (EV) charging sites at lock-up garages in a partnership with InfraTech Property Solutions (IPS).
The charging sites – dubbed Digital Community Hubs – are to combine rapid charging with 5G and Edge computing technology, SSE said.
Each site will consist of 10–20 rapid charging bays, as well as solar and battery technology and other distributed energy generation, designed to help ease the pressure on the grid.
Each community hub will also have an onsite coffee van for drivers to use while they charge.
A site near Heathrow Airport Terminal 4 is earmarked for the pilot, which the project team are hoping to start later in the year.
SSE, which is designing, developing and operating the EV hub infrastructure, is planning on rolling out chargers at up to 1,000 IPS-managed sites across London and the Home Counties.
“This project has the capability to provide the mass rollout of EV charging that London is crying out for as more and more consumers switch to EV,” Kevin Welstead, SSE Enterprise EV sector director, said.
“Space in the capital to build charging hubs is like gold dust, but thanks to the network of lock up garages tucked away across the city managed by IPS, we can build a network that could charge a tenth of all EVs in London.”
SSE pointed to the target set by the Mayor of London of providing 50,000 chargers across London by 2025, with the Digital Community Hubs potentially able to meet around 10% of this. If the network is rolled out fully, it could charge over 100,000 cars per year, SSE said.
SSE also announced yesterday that its networks arm, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN), is to trial portable electric vehicle chargers in Scotland in a £320,000 project. SSEN also unveiled its EV strategy in March, highlighting the needed for innovation, digitalisation and data and analytics in facilitating EV uptake.
