Barnet Council opts for “flat-and-flush” on-street EV charging technology
Barnet Council has awarded a contract to Scottish “flat-and-flush” EV charging technology developer Trojan Energy to deliver a £4.65 million project which will see the installation of over 500 charging points across the north London borough.
With £3.5 million secured in Government grant funding, the project is one of the largest to benefit from the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme, open to local authorities in the UK. Charge points, which will be located across 34 of Barnet’s streets, will be operational in phases by November 2022 and March 2023.
Trojan Energy’s flat-and-flush on-street EV charging points are designed to offer at home charging facilities for EV drivers without off street parking, while eliminating residual clutter on the pavement.
The flat-and-flush design leaves the pavement entirely clear of clutter when not in use. Customers use a lance which they keep in their possession to connect their vehicle to the charging point at the roadside. These points are linked via underground cables to cabinets, located discreetly up to 100m away, which send power to up to 15 charging units at any one time.
Barnet users will also benefit from Trojan Energy’s real-time charge point availability app.
Barnet Council Environment and Climate Change Committee Chair, Cllr Alan Schneiderman, said, “Our scheme to install hundreds more EV charging points is part of our wider sustainability programme to transform Barnet into a net zero borough. Supporting electric vehicles will not only help us ensure the air we breathe in Barnet is cleaner, it will also take us the next step closer to becoming a sustainable borough.
“Essential to the success of our programme will be working with partners and our residents and communities to provide the right support and infrastructure that will benefit everyone today who calls Barnet home, as well as preparing for tomorrow’s generation.”
Ian Mackenzie, CEO of Trojan Energy, said, “Trojan Energy’s mission has always been to ensure everyone benefits from the energy transition. We know that people are four times more likely to own an electric vehicle if they have a driveway but, by rolling out Trojan Energy’s on-street charging points, we are making owning an EV increasingly accessible to the millions of motorists that park on-street without cluttering our streets with permanent charging posts.
“This is Trojan Energy’s largest contract to date and it puts us firmly in a position to lead the widespread roll-out of clutter free on-street EV charging to urban areas. Our charging points will provide EV charging for 100s of Barnet’s EV drivers and will enable 1000s more to make the switch. This keeps us on track to deliver on our ambitious target to deploy several thousand Trojan Charging Points over the next two to three years.
Decarbonisation Minister Trudy Harrison said: “Our On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme is supporting councils like Barnet up and down the country to install more than 12,000 charging points. By making these more accessible to residents, particularly those without a driveway, we can help more and more people make the switch to electric vehicles.
Based in Aberdeenshire in the North-East of Scotland, Trojan Energy’s workforce of over 30 has tripled in size over the last year and the company expects to double again by the end of this year. All Trojan Energy’s hardware is manufactured in the UK at sites including Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Aylesbury.
The company was launched in 2016 to create an EV charging system that offers an equal opportunity to all drivers to charge their vehicles near their home, without inconveniencing other pavement users. It aims to provide immediate, cheap, green energy at up to 22kW and to address the lack of EV charging infrastructure in the urban environment with cost effective systems.
Trojan Energy says its first installations, launched last year in the London Boroughs of Brent and Camden, are experiencing high utilisation with excellent feedback from users.