British charging startup Urban Electric Networks has completed a trial of its UEone prototype on-street pop-up charging hub, which was conducted in association with Oxford City Council.

Urban Electric’s pop-up charging hubs were developed specifically to solve the problem of at-home charging for the 43% of UK households who have no assigned parking spaces, and have to park their cars on the street (an estimated 8 million vehicles across the UK). The charger is designed for convenient overnight curbside charging.

The app-operated charge points deliver 7 kW at each socket, and retract fully underground when not in use, minimizing the impact on the urban environment. No special charging cable or equipment is required to operate the chargers, and they’re designed to be suitable for 90% of residential streets.

Respondents to a post-trial survey conducted by Oxford City Council stressed the importance of access to on-street charging, and indicated that reliability, access and availability were the most important factors to consider when providing EVSE. Respondents scored the chargers 4.3 out of 5 when asked if they would recommend them to family or friends.

Joanna Spencer, one of the trial participants, said, “The Urban Electric hub is completely discreet and makes the business of charging really stress-free and convenient. I hope pop-up chargers become standard in every street.”

Urban Electric cofounder Olivier Freeling-Wilkinson said, “We were delighted to learn that all residents—not just EV drivers—were ‘very happy’ with the installation of a charging hub on their street, validating the pop-up hub concept as a breakthrough in on-street charging for electric vehicles.”

Source: Urban Electric
Images: Urban Electric Networks Ltd