Last updated on February 3rd, 2023 at 10:37 am
For those who don’t have home charging, the UK’s slowly improving network of street chargers is starting to provide a viable alternative. Some of these are barely better than a “granny” charger, delivering 3-4kW. More potent ones offer 5-6kW, and the best ones are 7kW like a regular home wallbox.
For example, CityEV street chargers frequently only offer 3kW, similar to the best 13A “granny” chargers, although the company also offers units up to 22kW at some locations. At 3kW they will take many hours to charge even an EV with a smaller battery. With the app, CityEV costs 28p per kWh, although contactless payment is available. The 3kW chargers might be meagre, but if you live in a street with no off-street parking, a 3kW charger will still get your EV ready for the daily commute overnight while you sleep, making electric ownership viable.
Another company rolling out street chargers is Ubitricity, now owned by Shell. Ubitricity’s lamppost chargers can be used on a pay-as-you-go basis without an app, but don’t offer contactless payment. Instead, they provide a QR code you scan that leads to a website to enter your contact details. Charging rates tend to be 5-6kW, which will get most vehicles back to full overnight. There is an app, which provides access to cheaper rates, but that requires a special adapter that is quite expensive and appears to be aimed at taxi drivers. The QR code system isn’t as simple as contactless payment, but it still works quite well.
Source London chargers, as the name suggests, are prevalent in London, having won an early contract to build out street charging for the city. The company used to price per minute, and some of its legacy units (if you can find them) are free with an RFID card. But since the beginning of December 2021, the headline rate for pay as you go is a whopping 69p per kW, or 80p per kW for central London. There’s a 5p per minute idle fee, too, although this might sound like a reasonable rate for parking in London. However, you can reduce costs with memberships and an RFID card.
This is just a representative example of the many companies now providing street charging. There are many more, such as EB Charging (operating in Brighton, Oxford, Leicester, and Leeds amongst 40 councils). ConnectedKerb is another company rolling out street chargers, for example in West Sussex and Coventry. Some of these companies require an app to use their chargers, some offer contactless payment, some require an RFID card, and some are part of a multi-network consortium with its own RFID card such as Octopus Electric Juice. Many offer more than one payment option. Once you move into an area but don’t have a home charger, get to know what is available on the street locally and explore the most cost-effective routine for charging.
Also look into Co Charger, which allows those who do have off-street parking and charging to rent this out to other EV users.
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