8:50 am, August 10, 2021
The new design for the nation’s EV charging network will be unveiled at the international Cop26 talks in Glasgow this November.
In June, it was revealed that the Department for Transport had advertised a £200,000 contract in hopes to secure a design team for the project. It was looking for designers to create a ‘design classic’ that could be as iconic as red phone boxes or post boxes on British streets.
The Royal College of Art and consultancy group PA have now been tasked with designing charges that will be more recognisable for drivers, with plans for them to appear on British roads from next year.
Transport secretary Grant Shapps said: ‘Excellent design plays a key role in supporting our transition to zero emission vehicles, which is why I want to see EV charge points that are as iconic and recognisable as the British phone box, London bus or black cab.
‘With less than three months to go until Cop26, we continue to put the UK at the forefront of the design, manufacture and use of zero emission vehicles and their charging infrastructure, as we build back greener and call on countries around the world to similarly accelerate the transition to electric vehicles.”
The UK has more than 25,000 public charging devices.
Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, added that ‘good design isn’t just about good looks’.
He told the PA news agency: ‘These public charge points will be viewed as a success if they are also easy to spot, intuitive to use, and reliably available, tests that some of the current generation of charge points would struggle to pass.’
