Birmingham City Council have entered into a partnership with Shell subsidiary Ubitricity in a scheme to significantly expand the city’s EV charging network.
Specifically aimed at providing residents with access to overnight, on-street charging, the new pilot project will see EV charging facilities fitted to 560 lampposts across residential areas of the city.
Cllr Majid Mahmood and Stuart Wilson
This project is the first of its kind in Birmingham and is being delivered in response to data showing that most electric cars are owned by people without access to off-road parking. The initiative is part of Birmingham’s wider Electric Vehicle Charging Strategy.
The 560 charge points will be installed in lampposts on 82 streets across the city, selected based on resident demand and grid connection availability. Each charge point will take less than an hour to install, minimising disruption and in line with the Council’s desired to avoid street clutter.
Ubitricity, the UK’s largest charge point operator, will supply, install, own, operate and maintain the new charge points on behalf of the Council.
The charge points have been funded by the Office of Zero Emission Vehicles On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme. The first 300 have already been installed, and the remaining 260 will be in use before the end of Spring 2025.
Councillor Majid Mahmood, Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport at Birmingham City Council, said: ‘While our focus as a council is on delivering the Birmingham Transport Plan and encouraging people to swap private vehicles for public transport, we also want to ensure that, for those who require use of a car, we have the infrastructure in place to facilitate use of low or zero-emission vehicles.’
Stuart Wilson, UK Managing Director of Ubitricity, said: ‘Ubitricity is delighted to be supporting Birmingham City Council as they begin this journey to create one of the largest public EV charging networks outside London, encouraging the transition to electric vehicles, and helping to create a cleaner and healthier, environment for the people of Birmingham.’