‘Iconic’ on-street EV charger revealed by UK Government

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has revealed an ‘iconic’ on-street EV charger at COP26, designed by the Royal College of Art.

If, as it seems, we’re all going to be driving EVs in the next decade, it’s going to mean big changes to our urban landscape as the received wisdom is we need endless EV charging points on every street to keep our electric cars topped-up.

With that in mind, the UK Government has had an on-street EV charger designed by the Royal College of Art, which has been revealed (above) by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps at COP26.

The aim, it seems, is to deliver a charger that will become iconic street furniture, just like red post boxes and London buses. Perhaps they should have painted it red?

Beyond revealing the charger, we have no real details – although it’s reasonable to assume the chargers will deliver 7-22kW charging – and nor do we know whether the Government is going to mandate the design to ensure familiarity and recognition whichever company – like Connected Kerb – is rolling out on-street chargers.

Grant Shapps said:

To support the transition to EVs, it’s integral that we have the infrastructure to support it. My vision is for the UK to have one of the best EV infrastructure networks in the world, with excellent British design at its heart.

The release photo (above) doesn’t really show much of the ‘iconic’ design, but it does look quite impressive in the video below even if the stylish circular ‘handle’ looks a bit prone to damage from Herberts.