Proposals for street lights featuring electric car charging points are now to be taken forward after Government announced £40M of funding for green vehicle technology projects this week.

 

Nottingham, Bristol, Milton Keynes and London were all awarded funds under the ‘Go Ultra Low City Scheme’ and will each work on initiatives to support take up of plug in electric cars.

 

London’s £13M bid included a promise to prioritise ultra low emission vehicles in several boroughs, including in Hackney where a dozen streets could see the introduction of car charging street lighting.

 

“If planned carefully this would reduce added clutter on the street and help to encourage greater take up of electric vehicles,” said technology firm EValu8’s managing director Keith Bevis. “Government funding for the proposal sends a message to the industry that charging infrastructure must include options that are less complicated and expensive but nonetheless robust.”

 

Mr Bevis explained that the system would likely be relatively cheap to implement and could involve simply fitting a new door to existing street lamps. Customers would then invest in their own charging cable, he suggested, with a sensor to detect the cost of the electricity used.

 

Other proposals for London include the development of a low emission zone in Harrow, offering parking and traffic priority to owners of plug in vehicles.

 

Ideas to be taken forward in Milton Keynes, Bristol and Nottingham include free parking for electric cars, allowing the use of bus lanes for ultra low emission vehicles and installation of new charge points.

 

Go Ultra Low’s head Poppy Welch said: “We’re excited to see the innovative ideas put forward by each of the winning Go Ultra Low Cities become reality over the coming months.

 

“This investment will help to put the UK at the forefront of the global ultra low emissions race.”

 

(Photo: Håkan Dahlströn and licensed for reuse under this Creative Common Licence)