Connected Kerb coming to charge electric cars in Kent County

The British charging specialist Connected Kerb is working with Kent County Council to deliver affordable and accessible EV infrastructure to hard-to-reach UK communities. In the first phase, Connected Kerb is installing 40 charge points at 20 sites across the Kent Parish.

The council and the British company claim this to be the first project of its kind in the UK. All income from the chargers goes to the local community or is used to support the rollout and maintenance of more chargers, creating a long-term revenue stream for those involved.

Connected Kerb has made it onto the scene focussing on compact on-street chargers specific to the UK market. The chargers can be mounted on curbs, traffic sign poles or boundary bollards at the roadside with the first edition being about 30 centimetres high and made of recycled material. In addition to charging, the stations offered WiFi access and the option of collecting traffic or weather data for municipal administration. In the most recent communication, Connected Kerb further specifies a long charger lifespan of 20+ years, grid infrastructure which is installed just once with the capacity to add more chargers at low cost as demand grows, and integrated smart technologies such as 5G, air quality monitoring, parking management, CCTV and road sensors.

In the case of Kent, the chargers will provide a 7-22KW fast charge and will feature contactless payment via the Connected Kerb app.

The company’s CEO, Chris Pateman-Jones, also emphasised that the project wants to “bring an end to the EV charging postcode lottery.” For example, over 30% of the UK’s public charging network is located in London, equivalent to 63 public chargers per 100,000 people. This compares to areas like Castle Point, Kent, which has just 2.2 chargers per 100,000 people, the statement reads. A 2020 study by Centrica concluded a similar difference in regional infrastructure.

Pateman-Jones added the partnership with Kent County Council showed that the economics of installing EV charging in non-urban areas is much more favourable than many believe. “This is a recipe for success for local authorities across the UK,” he said.

The project is being financed through the Kent Lane Rental Scheme and from the DFT. The parishes themselves have also contributed. For some sites, 75% of the costs were financed through the Government’s On-Street Residential Charge Point Scheme, available to all local authorities in the UK. The ORCS had been extended again this February as reported.

Connected Kerb says it also offers a fully-funded model, involving no upfront cost to local authorities, with all charger revenue shared.

In 2019, the company also introduced a wireless charging concept building on technology from German induction technology specialist Magment.

fleetworld.co.uk, PI via email