Siemens has unveiled the UK’s first avenue that has been fully converted to cater for electric-vehicle (EV) charging.

Called ‘Electric Avenue, W9’, it
is over half a mile long and was developed in collaboration with Ubitricity and Westminster City Council; it has 24 lamp-posts converted into EV charging points, using the existing city infrastructure.

Residents can now charge EVs at various locations along Sutherland Avenue (in London W9), with two adjoining roads due to be added to the scheme in the near future.

The launch follows research conducted by Siemens showing that 36% of British motorists plan to buy a hybrid or electric vehicle as their next car.

However, with 40% saying that the lack of charging points stopped them from doing so sooner, this is the biggest factor deterring motorists from purchasing an electric or hybrid vehicle.

Westminster City Council currently has more EV points than any other UK local authority, with a total of 296 lamp-column charging points in the city, 24 of which are located on ‘Electric Avenue, W9’.

There are plans to reach 1,000 charging points across Westminster City Council within the next year, as it has twice as many locally registered EVs as any other inner-London borough, and the most among all the London boroughs.

Cedrik Neike, Siemens AG board member and CEO of Siemens Smart Infrastructure (www.new.siemens.com), said: “We know that half of London’s air pollution is caused by road transport, and Westminster is a particularly busy area.

"While we cannot solve the challenge of air quality overnight, ‘Electric Avenue W9’ is an important showcase of what’s possible using existing city infrastructure.

"It illustrates how residential streets will look in the near future, and it accelerates the shift to zero-emission vehicles.”