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The number of electric vehicle recharging points in the UK will expand significantly during 2009 if plans from two infrastructure companies are realised.
Elektromotive, one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of electric vehicle charging points, plans to more than double the number of vehicle charging bays that it operates by the end of this year, bringing the total to 250.
Californian firm EVoasis aims to convert former petrol stations into electric vehicle recharging points. It plans to open 12 sites, called UpStarts, in five boroughs across London. Each will be capable of charging up to 12 vehicles simultaneously. The first will be in Pimlico, London, with more following through the year.
Elektromotive already has 120 recharging points in use, however, with 40 in London and 80 throughout the rest of the country. Managing director Calvey Taylor-Haw says that by the end of the year London will have 125 Elektromotive bays and the rest of the UK around 120, with more to come.
The EVoasis charge points are claimed to be capable of detecting the type of vehicle being plugged into them, as well as the condition of their batteries and the level of charge. Users will be able to watch videos while waiting for their cars to recharge.
While the schemes will mean improved recharge availability for the 4929 battery-powered vehicles registered since 2004, electric vehicle users will still be inconvenienced by the fact that there is more than one kind of connector. Elektromotive uses the household three-pin plug, but other chargers use a connector called Blue Commando. To complicate matters further, the two systems dispense different levels of amperage.
Richard Bremner
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