Surrey County Council and Connected Kerb have entered a partnership to support the rollout of thousands of electric vehicle chargepoints across the country in the next few years.
The contract is said to be the largest in the UK to date and will release up to £60million of investment for Connected Kerb to install public EV chargepoints across the county.
The aim will be to install thousands over the next five years and Connected Kerb has been licensed to operate the chargepoints for 15 years from installation.
Increasing the number of public chargepoints in Surrey hopes to support residents in making the transition to an EV but do not have charging infrastructure at home.
Connected Kerb will install a mix of chargepoints ranging between slower 3kW and 7kW chargepoints, as well as fast 22kW chargepoints and rapid chargepoints. Their product range includes free-standing and wall-mounted chargepoints, which will cater to those with accessibility needs.
The partnership will see a rapid rollout of on-street charge points, with ambitious plans to install hundreds of charge points within the first year It aims to make one in five of the EV charging bays more accessible to drivers with disabilities, in recognition of the need to make EV adoption a practical reality for the 2.35 million blue badge holders on UK roads.
Marisa Heath, Cabinet Member for Environment, Surrey County Council, said: “We know that emissions from transport are a significant proportion of our carbon footprint in Surrey, so supporting residents to switch to an electric car is essential to helping us achieve our aim of being a net zero county by 2050. Many residents don’t have access to driveways to charge EVs at home, so a comprehensive network of high-quality, reliable and accessible EV chargepoints is essential to supporting the needs of our local communities. We’ve been working with Connected Kerb for almost a year, as part of our pilot phases that have seen us install over 100 chargepoints across Surrey over the last two years. We’re delighted this contract will enable us to speed up the roll-out of further chargepoints and expand our network in the coming years.”
The company highlighted that throughout the contract, Connected Kerb will be identifying suitable on-street locations, using residents’ suggestions made through the company’s online map and approaching public sector and community landowners across the county to identify other suitable locations for public EV chargepoints, including local car cars, NHS sites and educational establishments.
Chris Pateman-Jones, CEO of Connected Kerb, said: “If one local authority can deliver such a significant boost to the UK’s charging network, just imagine what we could achieve by 2030 if every city, county, and combined authority was empowered to do the same. The recent Net Zero Review was clear – local authorities can become the driving force behind the rollout of charging infrastructure across the country, and our partnership with Surrey County Council is case and point. If local authorities are the door to a clean transport future, then charging networks like Connected Kerb are the key, providing the tools and expertise needed to unlock the transition at the pace and scale required to reach net zero. Although the Government’s estimate of 300,000 chargers by 2030 may feel ambitious, it’s eminently possible – and necessary – to achieve; this deal proves it. In addition to the EV chargepoints, the contract will delivery significant value to Surrey residents through Connected Kerb’s social value projects. These will cover a range of initiatives including working with local educational centres to provide industry support to pupils interested in learning about EV chargepoints, providing employability support to vulnerable young people, as well as supporting a number of charities within the county.”
Picture: Surrey Council
