We're not sure if The Wombles can drive but, given their eco-friendly credentials, we're quite certain that if they did, the Wimbledon Common residents would drive electric cars. And the good news is that they'll now find it easier to charge their EVs up.
That's because the London borough of Merton, which covers Wimbledon, will gain 530 new on-street electric vehicle chargers in the coming weeks, with a major focus on giving access to residents to cannot fit an off-street charger at their home. And no matter how resourceful Uncle Bulgaria is, we're fairly certain that you can't install an EV charger in a burrow on the common.
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But the deal isn't just good news for The Wombles. The new units will be fitted in the next four to six weeks by lamppost charging specialist Char.gy, and council chiefs say that it will ensure 78,000 homes in the borough will not be within a two-minute walk of a public charging point. There are around 90,000 homes in Merton, and an estimated 37,000 are unable to install off-street chargers.
Merton is in southwest London and as well as Wimbledon covers districts including Mitcham and Tooting Broadway. The exact location of the chargers within the borough have been decided based on a range of factors including the number of motorists in an area who have switched to EVs, geographical spread and requests from residents.
The installations will include six accessible chargers outside the homes of residents who have a disabled parking bay on their street. The chargers will be lower to make them easier to access, and within easy reach of the disabled space.
There were 259 public charging points in Merton at the start of 2023, so the 530 new units will triple the number of chargers available to residents and visitors. The units will be maintained by Char.gy, and as with that firm’s other units will feature a discounted overnight parking rate of 29p/kWh that is in effect from midnight until 0700hrs.
Council chiefs claim that the installations will make Merton the most well-equipped borough for on-street charging in Outer London. At present, just one in 77 vehicles registered in Merton qualify as ultra-low emissions, and the council says that petrol and diesel vehicles are responsible for 19 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in the borough.
The charge points have been funded through investment from Char.gy and a government grant from the On-Street Residential Charging Scheme.
Councillor Stephen Alambritis, Merton Council’s transport chief, said: “Our ambition is to make Merton one of the best places in London to rent, own, or share an electric vehicle – this is crucial to our efforts to reduce emissions in the borough and clean up the air we all breathe.”
Charg.gy boss Richard Stobart, who lives in Merton, added: “We believe our no-cost, quick installation and shared revenues for councils, together with our reliable, renewables-based charging service for motorists, makes us the ideal partner for local authorities looking to make a paradigm shift in neighbourhood electrification.”
Char.gy specialises in on-street chargers built into lampposts and existing road furniture. It currently has more than 2000 chargers in operation across the UK.
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