Dundee is regarded as Scotland’s leading city in the adoption, promotion and operation of electric vehicles (EVs).
It is Scotland’s only Go Ultra Low City, promoting itself as a model city for the uptake of EVs. Dundee City Council have the ambitious goal to convert all small and medium cars and cans to be electric by 2022. They have the most electric vehicles of any local authority in the UK (including 2 x Mellor minibuses, a Johnston Sweeper and 2 x Dennis Eagle bin lorries). The swap to electric vehicles has seen the council travel over 5.6 million miles on pure electric. As a city, Dundee has taken on pilot projects and has become a testing ground for innovative charging solutions. It’s award-winning rapid charging hub – Princes Street – was the first of its kind with solar canopies, battery and energy storage which brought world-wide recognition.
So what better city could be used to trial pop up chargers other than Dundee? Thanks to funding from Innovate UK this project brings together partners from all over the country. Urban Foresight as the project manager, Urban Electric are the designers, DUKU manufacture the charger and Dundee City Council along with Plymouth City Council will be the first cities to introduce these chargers at scale.
A common issue that is arising in cities is the lack of on-street charging solutions that are don’t clutter up a busy street, robust and aesthetically pleasing. In Dundee, many residents to not have dedicated off street parking with 51% live in multi-unit dwellings. Urban Electric, a London based innovation company set out to solve this problem with pop up chargers in residential and urban areas.
At the moment, the usual on-street chargers face resistance from local residence due to the street clutter and can be prone to vandalism, Urban Electric paved the way to with this innovative solution a charger that is hidden in the ground which “pops up” when the charger needs to be used.
After three years in the making, and following a successful trial of a “rough prototype” hub in Oxford, the pop-up chargers are soon to been installed beneath the streets of Dundee, while a similar scheme in Plymouth will follow. The first charger will be installed on the Waterfront in front of the V&A, and is the culmination of an intense three years of research and development, manufacturing and trialling, something which is finally paying off.
Olivier explained: “Once they are installed they can power lots of cars down the road, we estimate three dual-socket charges will be enough to power up to 60 electric vehicles, based on average mobility miles (7,500 miles-a-year). So you don’t need roads cluttered, you just need a dependable hub to service that street.
“It’s a robust piece of machinery. You don’t need any special equipment to use it, just the standard charging cable, and you don’t have to press a button, you just use the app, and when finished, unplug, and it will automatically retract into the ground.”
The total cost of the scheme is £3.8million which has been joint funded by Office of Low Emission Vehicles and Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency.
The charger itself is operated through an app which allows the user to select activate and pay for the charger. Once activated the charger slowly “pops up” from the ground you can plug in you type 2 cable and you are good to go! When the charger is not in use it is completely flush to the ground, you can step, jump, drive over these caps without causing any damage. By using a type 2 cable the charger is compatible with all plug-in vehicles which makes it even easier. The app is easy to use and each charger has its own name. The app is easy to use and each charger has its own name. There is also a 24/7 driver support helpline if needed.
Mark Flynn convener of Dundee City Council’s city development committee said: “As a city in which there a lot of tenement properties it is important that we try to make charging points available to as many people as possible and this technology offers us the chance to do that.
“I hope that the pop-up charger at the Waterfront is the first of many and that they are well used.”
www.dundeecity.gov.uk
