UK’s first converted ‘Electric Avenue’ unveiled

Siemens has unveiled the UK’s first electric avenue, which is over half a mile in length, that has been fully converted to cater for electric vehicle charging.

Coined ‘Electric Avenue, W9’, the project has seen Westminster City Council successfully convert 24 lampposts into EV charge points using existing city infrastructure. It means that residents can now charge EVs at various locations along Sutherland Avenue in London, with a further two adjoining roads due to be completed in the coming weeks.

Data shows 80 per cent of motorists in central London believe it is ‘very important’ that air quality is improved, and 83 per cent have become more concerned about their carbon footprint in the past five years.

Westminster itself witnessed a 40 per cent growth in EVs charged in the borough last year. It now has more EV points than any UK local authority, with a total of 296 lamp column charge points in the city, 24 of which are located on ‘Electric Avenue, W9’.

Furthermore, there are plans to reach a thousand charge points across Westminster City Council within the next year, as it has twice the number of locally registered EVs than any other inner London borough, and the most among all the other London boroughs.

Andrew Smith, cabinet member for Environment & Highways, said: In a city that suffers from some of the worst air pollution in the country, we need to be supporting the change to green technology as much as we can. ‘Electric Avenue, W9’ gives us a glimpse into the future of streets in Westminster, where we hope to provide the infrastructure needed for our residents to make the switch to cleaner, greener transport.”

The Electric Avenue, W9 launch ollows research conducted by Siemens showing over a third (36 per cent) of British motorists planned to buy a hybrid or electric vehicle as their next car, with two in five people (40 per cent) saying that a lack of charging points stopped them from doing so sooner.