New ‘flat and flush’ EV charge points begin testing

New ‘flat and flush’ on-street electric vehicle (EV) charge points are now live for testing in the London boroughs of Brent and Camden.

The project has been led by energy consultancy Element Energy and will see EV drivers trialling 150 new on-street charge points.

The charge points, designed by Trojan Energy, sit flat and flush with the pavement so have no permanent raised structure.

It says that the technology will provide vital on-street charging for those without driveways or garages, whilst keeping our streets clear of additional clutter.

For the trial, 10 sets of 15 charge points are installed on six streets in Brent and four streets in Camden.

Currently nine streets are live, with the final street in Camden due to be operational later this year.

More than 150 EV drivers have signed-up to use the technology, with the trial scheduled to run for several months.

If the trial is successful and passes council consultation, the system will remain in use for years to come, says Trojan Energy.

Ian Mackenzie, CEO of Trojan Energy, said “The whole Trojan Energy team is grateful for the support of the project partners in achieving the next milestone in volume deployment of our systems.

“The learnings from here will underpin our whole market approach as we move from trials to commercial roll out, across the UK and around the world.”

Trojan Energy designed the flat and flush charging system for those without access to off-street parking.

The full launch of the trial is a key milestone in the three-year Subsurface Technology for Electric Pathways (STEP) project, funded by the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) and delivered by Innovate UK, which has seen the charge points developed from concept, through manufacturing and now deployment.

Fleet News reported how Barnet Council was making a multi-million pound investment in the on-street, residential, electric vehicle (EV) charging spaces, earlier this month. 

It will be installing more than 500 charging points, designed to be flat-and-flush with the pavement after awarding the contract to Trojan Energy to deliver the £4.65 million project, £3.5m of which was secured in Government grant funding, to boost the number of EV charging points in the borough.

The funding is one of the largest amounts provided through the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme, open to local authorities in the UK.

Element Energy have designed surveys for trial participants alongside academic partners from the Institute of Transport Studies at the University of Leeds to evaluate the success of the project.

Success will not only be defined by feedback from local EV drivers using the technology, but additionally by more than 150 nearby non-trial residents providing their feedback on the new infrastructure in their area.

Results from this research will feed into Trojan Energy’s future deployment strategy of these innovative charge points.

Key electricity industry project partners have brought their expertise to the team.

UK Power Networks have provided the connections to the electricity network and assisted in finding the balance between power and availability for the systems.

Octopus Energy has brought its innovation team’s expertise in areas such as tariffs and metering and is Trojan’s ongoing 100% renewable energy supply partner.

Oliver Robinson, project manager and senior consultant at Element Energy, said: “The project has achieved its impressive goal of bringing over 100 well-designed, neat on-street chargers to people across Brent and Camden.

“I am proud of the Consortium and looking forward to seeing the future of commercial rollout for Trojan Energy as they accelerate the transition to net zero for drivers who park on street.”