Today, British electric vehicle (EV) charging startup Urban Electric Networks Ltd announced the UEone pop-up charge point for charging electric vehicles. The UEone was developed specifically to solve the problem of charging for the 43% of UK households who have to park their car on-street in residential parking zones.
The app-operated UEone charges at up to 5.8kW and retracts underground when not in use, minimizing the impact on the urban environment. Standard height when raised, yet requiring an installation depth of just 405mm, the UEone is suitable for more than 90% of residential streets.
Its unobtrusive design and grid demand management capability means that whole streets can be electrified at a time without the unsightly street clutter usually associated with traditional charging posts, or for expensive grid reinforcement, or the need for EV Only bays.
The UEone uses the same SmartCable as ubitricity lamp posts, meaning that residents will be able to charge at any UEone pop-up or ubitricity lamp post, creating a new standard for urban residential charging.
"The most convenient, affordable and climate-friendly way to charge an EV from the grid is at home at night, yet up to 85% of households in some urban residential areas cannot do so because they park on-street, acting as a barrier to EV adoption,” said cofounder Olivier Freeling-Wilkinson.
“By installing an over-supply of pop-up charge points in a street from day one we will give certainty of access to a home-based charge point in residential parking zones, so that local authorities can enable the 11.6 million UK households currently excluded from driving zero emission to make the switch," added Freeling-Wilkinson.
Urban Electric is undertaking a £600,000 trial of the UEone with Oxford City Council, which recently announced a proposal to create the world's first Zero Emissions Zone in 2020. The trial is co-funded by the UK's innovation agency, Innovate UK, following a successful £474,000 bid led by Urban Electric, in partnership with Duku and Oxford City Council.
Susan Brown, Leader at Oxford City Council, said: "We are thrilled that we will be trialing the world's first pop-up electric vehicle charging points and that Urban Electric is bringing us this exciting new technology to encourage more residents to switch to electric vehicles."
