Oxford Claims First Pop-Up Street EV Chargers

Paul Myles

TU-Editor

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28th November 2019

The university city of Oxford is claiming to have the world’s first working installations of retractable street EV chargers.

Developers hope that the system will spread throughout the city and remove one of the major obstacles to BEV take up among consumers worried that there are too few urban charging stations. The pop-up chargers have been installed by principal contractor Oxford Direct Services (ODS) on the residential north eastern end of Lonsdale Road in North Oxford.

The ‘OxPops’ trial comprising six Urban Electric Networks’ ‘UEone’ retractable pavement bollards aims to provide charging facilities for residents who live on a street with only on-street parking. Charging points are app-operated and retract underground when not in use in order to reduce street clutter.

In consultation with the Oxford City Council, ODS designed the on-street electrical installation and worked with charger product designers to help them meet requirements on EV chargers.

Shaun Hatton, ODS’ director of operations, said: “We are delighted to have contributed to this pioneering project. Both our electrical department who designed, installed and commissioned the electrical installation; and, our highways department who prepared the infrastructure to welcome the chargers, have been outstanding in their delivery and made the company very proud.” The charging hub will be trialed until February 2020.

— Paul Myles is a seasoned automotive journalist based in London. Follow him on Twitter @Paulmyles_