Green vehicle charge continues thanks to positive county council action
The electric car revolution is set to continue in Oxfordshire thanks to a successful county council bid for a slice of a £37m government fund.
Oxfordshire is set to host to two major initiatives to provide more charging points for electric vehicles (EVs) across the county.
The projects have been awarded funding from Innovate UK as part of the government’s £37 million investment into British engineering to transform electric charging infrastructure, revolutionising the experience for the record levels of EV drivers on UK roads.
Cllr Yvonne Constance, Cabinet member for Environment, said:
“I’m thrilled that Oxfordshire is to receive funding to support local residents who are currently excluded from becoming EV drivers because they don’t have the means to charge a vehicle at home.
“These state-of-the art projects will pilot new business models and technologies designed to solve real challenges, while at the same time helping to tackle air pollution and climate concerns, and drive investment in the local low carbon economy.
“Oxfordshire County Council is looking forward to working closely with our district and city council partners to deliver these exciting projects for the people of Oxfordshire.”
Park and Charge Project
Park and Charge will see up to 300 chargers installed in residential ‘charging hubs’ using car parks located in residential areas where properties don’t have their own off-street parking.
The pilot will provide drivers from across the county who don’t have access to home charging on a private driveway, with chargers sited at a local ‘hub’ where they can park and charge their EV overnight.
The chargers are developed by local company Zeta Specialist Lighting and supported by [ui!]uk’s smart management platform and app which will give users the ability to “pre-book” their charging slot and choose how to pay for their charging. SSE Enterprises are leading on the installation of the chargers and connection to the electrical network. The projects research partner is the Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford. The team, led by Professor Malcolm McCulloch, will collect and analyse data to monitor the trial and integrate the lessons learnt.
The project has a total budget of £5.2M of which around £3.4M is provided by a grant from Innovate UK. Oxfordshire County Council has been awarded around £750K funding, of which the majority is earmarked for the district and city councils to deliver EV charging in their local authority car parks.
The county council will seek to work with all four district councils and Oxford City Council to deliver the projects which will see new EV charging installed at car park locations across the county.
VPACH (Virgin Park and Charge) Project
The VPACH project will use existing Virgin Media cabinets to reduce the cost of installing roadside EV chargers and minimise the amount of street clutter needed for power supply.
This project could see on-street EV charging deployed in Oxfordshire in towns where Virgin Media are already present. The project has a total budget of £9.7M of which just over £4.1M is grant funding from Innovate UK. Oxfordshire County Council is set to receive £100K funding.
Both projects will use geospatial planning tools to map EV demand, electrical grid constraints and infrastructure costs to find the most suitable charging point locations.
Notes for editors:
Park and Charge Project
Lead organisation
- ZETA SPECIALIST LIGHTING LIMITED
Partners
- University of Oxford
- Oxfordshire County Council
- SSE Utilities Solutions Ltd
- Urban Integrated Ltd - [ui!]UK
Virgin Park and Charge Project
Lead organisation
- SMS Energy Services Limited
Partners:
- Loughborough University
- West Midlands Combined Authority
- Liverpool City Council
- Oxfordshire County Council
- Southend on Sea Borough Council
- Chargepoint Services Limited
- Connected Kerb Limited
- Vattenfall UK Sales Limited
- Cenex (Centre of Excellence for Low Carbon and Fuel Cell Technologies)
- Virgin Media Limited
- Ginger Teleporter Limited
- Deta Group Limited
- Worcestershire County Council
- Wandsworth Council
- FULLY CHARGED SHOW Limited
- Croydon Council
- Northamptonshire County Council
- London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham
- Belfast City Council