Loughborough University academics are part of a national programme to roll out more than a thousand electric car charging points by 2021.
In a project backed by Innovate UK, the government’s non-department research and innovation body, and the owner of Virgin Media, Liberty Global, Loughborough academics will identify 600 streets in the UK for upgrades.
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Charging points will be installed on existing Virgin Media street cabinets as part of the Virgin Media Park & Charge scheme.
Dr Craig Morton from the university’s school of architecture, building and civil engineering, is identifying the best streets with a newly developed site selection tool which maps out areas’ suitability.
The programme uses datasets to identify the neighbourhoods most likely to use the new charging points.
The opportunity to play a crucial role in the next wave of public EV chargepoint development is very rewarding due to the importance of this infrastructure in facilitating a transition to a low carbon transport future.
– Dr Craig Morton, Loughborough University
Using data on where electric vehicles are most popular, where infrastructure already exists and where households do not have access to off-street parking, the team at Loughborough will aim to target locations where infrastructure could encourage residents swap to electric vehicles (EV).
The areas earmarked for new EV charging points are in the West Midlands, Oxfordshire, Liverpool, Southend on Sea, Worcestershire, Wandsworth, Croydon, Northamptonshire, Hammersmith and Fulham, and Belfast.
Dr Morton’s team will use the rolling installation to improve their datasets using usage figures to help them refine the shortlist of future sites.
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Dr Morton said: “The opportunity to play a crucial role in the next wave of public EV chargepoint development is very rewarding due to the importance of this infrastructure in facilitating a transition to a low carbon transport future.
“Our team will support the partners in the consortium regarding how best to invest in their EV infrastructures by answering the simple but important question of which areas would benefit the most from the installation of charge points.”