Nearly 2,700 Electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints have been added across London, the east and south east in the past twelve months, UK Power Networks (UKPN) has said.
As a result, there are now over 9,000 chargepoints in London, the east and south east, with a total of 40% of all chargepoints in Great Britain being connected to UKPN’s local grids. This is almost double the volume of any other network operator.
Additionally, UKPN is estimating there will be 4.5 million EVs in the areas it serves by 2030. As it stands, there are around 594,000 EVs in the UK, with an estimated 154,000 in the areas served by UK Power Networks.
However, Shira Lappin, innovation project lead at UK Power Networks, said there’s still “a lot of work to do ” to meet the growing demand for EVs and chargepoints, and that it is important UKPN works with local and central government, chargepoint operators, customers and other stakeholders to ensure a seamless transition.
The company pointed to how a single 50kW rapid charger uses the same amount of power as a block of 25 flats, meaning that the more EVs sold, and the more chargers installed, the greater the need to create smart solutions on the electricity network.
In a trial run earlier this year UKPN found that over 500 EV chargers could be connected around a single electricity substation using state-of-the-art technology over building new cables or substations.
The trial used an artificial intelligence simulation to successfully test Active Response software on a substation in Tooting, south London to automatically move electrical capacity around the network to safely accommodate more low carbon technologies.
Alongside this, UKPN also launched its Green Recovery programme, designed to kickstart 86 shovel-ready green energy infrastructure projects. This includes enabling 11 motorway service areas to install more than 600 ultra-fast 150kW chargers.
Its hoped this programme – which includes a £66 million investment – combined with collaborative work across the sector will create the new infrastructure to give consumers the confidence to switch to an EV.
