The UK government’s current policy is to insist that by 2040, all new cars and vans sold in the UK should be zero emissions capable – that means battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric or hydrogen. … That’s the expected date by which the government should have reduced carbon emissions from all sources to zero.

One of the most common question marks raised with us here at Intelligent Instructor, centres around how these electric vehicles will be charged. Sure, for those with a nice driveway, having a Podpoint or similar charger installed in your home makes sense, but how will those who live in flats/apartments or dwellings with off-street parking manage?

Here at ii, we love the idea of a battery being portable enough to remove from your car and take into your home to charge, but technology isn’t quite there yet. But there are new ideas being trialled in the UK, which could provide answers to one of the most common problems with EVs.

During a meeting in Richmond earlier this month, we spotted one of the very first lamp post chargers. The project is funded through a £300,000 grant from the Go Ultra Low City Scheme (GULCS) run by the Department for Transport and administered by London Councils, Transport for London and the GLA. The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames has provided £100,000 of match funding and aims to support those residents without access to off-street parking.

Richmond council: We have received over 450 requests from residents for lamp column EV charging points and Siemens has recently installed 200 sockets into street lights as part of this project. The parking bays next to these charging points are not dedicated “EV only” parking bays and any vehicle can use the parking bay. Where possible we have tried to install 3 sockets per resident request to ensure better accessibility levels on a street.

Could this be the future for EV charging?