The UK’s first roadful of electric cars – ‘the street of the future’ – has been created in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, and SSE was on-site to see the first set of keys being handed over.
My Electric Avenue is a ground-breaking project led by EA Technology and funded by the energy regulator Ofgem to assess what the impact of more electric vehicles will be on the electricity distribution network.
The project set out a year ago to find streets in at least ten different location – and some workplace clusters – with people willing to drive electric vehicles and test the infrastructure.
SSEPD’s Richard Hartshorn said:. “After so many months of careful planning and organising, it’s fantastic to see the cars on the driveways and all the technology installed.
“With more and more electric cars on the market, we’ve got to make sure that our network is able to adapt to this increased demand”.
He added: “Through My Electric Avenue, we’ll get an invaluable insight into the impact a street of electric vehicles will have.
“This project is another example of our commitment to understanding and planning for the potential future use of the electricity network.”
Marlow, in SSEPD’s network area, is the first of eleven ‘clusters’ around Britain that are currently receiving deliveries of Nissan LEAF electric vehicles, charging points, and the new technology that monitors and controls charging.
The other ‘residential clusters’ are in Chineham, Chiswick, Lyndhurst, South Gosforth, and Wylam, with two more based in South Shields. In addition there are two ‘workplace-based clusters’ at Slough Borough Council and Your Homes Newcastle.
Lessons learned from My Electric Avenue will be shared with the rest of the UK’s electricity distribution network operators.