Search for residents interested in having electric vehicle charging stations in their street

The City Council, together with Oxfordshire County Council, is currently carrying out a major trial to investigate the best way to deliver 100 on-street electric vehicle charging stations in Oxford’s residential streets.

The trial, the first on-street charging pilot of its size in the world, has been made possible thanks to an £800,000 grant from the OLEV (Office for Low Emission Vehicles) Go Ultra Low Cities funding pot.

The Government set up the £40m pot as part of its drive to make every new passenger vehicle sold in the UK by 2050 an ultra-low emission vehicle (ULEV), which includes electric and hybrid vehicles that produce 75g/km or less of CO2.

Now the City Council is holding a recruitment meeting for anyone who is interested in having an electric charging station installed in their street.

The drop-in meeting, which is also an opportunity to find out more about the project, will take place in Oxford Town Hall between 6pm and 7pm tomorrow (Wednesday 8 June).

If you would like to attend the meeting, please register on the Eventbrite website.

Currently, residents who live in Oxford’s terraced street and do not have driveways struggle to charge their electric vehicles – and to some this may be the only barrier to them owning an electric vehicle.

The city and county councils have invited technology suppliers to come forward with solutions to the on-street charging problem in residential areas of Oxford. On 31 May the councils held a supplier’s day for companies interested in bidding for the project.

The councils are looking to trial 30 chargers from at least six different organisations. It is hoped the trials will begin by the end of the 2016/17 financial year.

Possible solutions that are already on the market range from low-tech ‘cable gullies’, which are laid into the pavement to prevent pedestrians from tripping on charging cables, to pop-up charging bollards, mobile charging units or high-tech smart lampposts that are capable of charging a vehicle.

The best solutions will then be rolled out in 100 sites in residential streets across Oxford, which is expected to take place in 2019.

Oxford City Council is committed to improving air quality and tackling climate change. Recent work has included bringing in the Low Emission Zone to tackle air pollution in the city centre, upgrading cycling routes and installing solar PV panels on City Council buildings.

Councillor John Tanner, Executive Board Member for A Clean and Green Oxford, said: “Electric vehicles are the future so get switched on. We want to make it as easy as possible for Oxford residents to plug into the new technologies, save money and help the environment.”

Oxford residents who would like to be involved in the trial but cannot make the meeting can contact Oxford City Council’s environmental team by emailing airquality@oxford.gov.uk. Please provide your name, address and contact details.

Further information about ultra-low emission vehicles, charge point locations, test drive options and purchase incentives is available on the Go Ultra Low website.