In what is understood to be a first for the UK, tech giant Siemens and electric vehicle charging solutions provider ubitricity have converted all the lamp posts on a central London residential street into “hidden” electric vehicle chargers.
The street in question – the near kilometre-long Sutherland Avenue in Westminster – now has 24 converted lamp posts along the length of the avenue, bringing the number of lamp post charging points in Westminster City to almost 300.
A study conducted by Siemens shows that more than one third of Brits intend to buy an electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle and by 2050 and as many as one in two cars on UK roads will be electric.
According to Siemens, 80% of UK motorists care deeply about air quality and 83% are more concerned about their carbon footprint than in 2015. But with many people faced with lack of access to garages or driveways at which they could charge at home, two in five say they are hesitating to make the switch to electric.
Cedrik Neike, member of the board at Siemens and CEO of Siemens smart infrastructure arm says the project – which will expand into two nearby streets in coming weeks, subject to lockdown provisions – is a step in the right direction to solving London’s poor air quality scorecard.
“We know that half of London’s air pollution is caused by road transport and Westminster is a particularly busy area. While we cannot solve the challenge of air quality overnight, ‘Electric Avenue W9’ is an important showcase of what’s possible using existing city infrastructure,” said Neike in a statement.
To read the full version of this story – and view the photo gallery – on RenewEconomy’s electric vehicle dedicated site, The Driven, click here…
