Birmingham City Council is rolling out a major expansion of its on-street electric vehicle (EV) charging network.
The move, in partnership with ubitricity, will see the council carry out a pilot deployment of 560 lamppost EV charge-points across residential areas of the city where access to private off-street parking is limited or unavailable.
The council has said the rollout is the first project of its kind in Birmingham. It has been taken forward in response to data showing that most electric cars are kept at homes without access to a private driveway.
This initiative, part of Birmingham’s wider electric vehicle charging strategy, is aimed at improving access to EV charging infrastructure for residents, the council said.
The 560 charge-points are being installed in columns on 82 streets across the city, with each expected to take less than an hour to install.
The first 300 have already been installed, and the remaining 260 will be in place before the end of spring, the council added.
Councillor Majid Mahmood, cabinet member for environment and transport at Birmingham City Council, said: “While our focus as a council is on delivering the Birmingham Transport Plan and encouraging people to swap private vehicles for public transport, we also want to ensure that, for those who require use of a car, we have the infrastructure in place to facilitate use of low or zero-emission vehicles.”
Stuart Wilson, UK Managing Director of ubitricity, added: “ubitricity is delighted to be supporting Birmingham City Council as they begin this journey to create one of the largest public EV charging networks outside London, encouraging the transition to electric vehicles, and helping to create a cleaner and healthier, environment for the people of Birmingham.”
Image: Councillor Majid Mahmood and Stuart Wilson with one of the new Birmingham on-street EV charge-points. Courtesy of Birmingham City Council
