Chelsea lamp post charging points expand

Actor and renewable energy advocate Robert Llewellyn has unveiled and plugged in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea’s newest electric vehicle charger.

This is now central London’s largest lamp post-electric vehicle charging network.

The council is installing 57 lamp post charging points. The smart technology allows motorists to plug their electric vehicle directly into chargers installed in council lamp posts.

Lead Member for Transport, Cllr Gerard Hargreaves, said: “Kensington and Chelsea are leading the charge by retro-fitting street lamps across the borough with electric vehicle chargers.

“One of the biggest barriers to electric car ownership is the perceived lack of on-street charging. The Council’s new technology will help to remove these barriers by making charging simple and convenient for residents.

“The lamp post charge points are conveniently located next to pay and display parking bays and are available for use 24 hours a day."

Transport Minister, Jesse Norman said: “A widespread and reliable charging network for electric vehicles is essential if the UK is to meet our ambition of ending the sale of new conventional petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2040.

"We have already made good progress with over 11,500 public chargepoints across the UK and I am delighted that the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea have taken up our On-street Residential Chargepoint Scheme to improve chargepoint infrastructure in their area.”

Residents can join the charging scheme by purchasing a SimpleSocket cable, which has an inbuilt meter allowing them to plug into any of the council’s lamp post chargers.

The lamp post-electric vehicle network is part of the council’s wider commitment to help improve air quality through its Air Quality and Climate Change Action Plan 2016.

Through the Action Plan, the council has also expanded the number of car clubs, promoted cycle training and its Hire to Buyer cycling scheme, reduced C02 emissions from council operations by 35 per cent since 2014, helped vulnerable residents to reduce energy consumption and bills, and trained residents as volunteer green champions.

As part of this commitment, the council recently announced its support for London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s proposed extension of the Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ).