The UK’s largest car park operator, NCP, is set to rollout a new style of car park dedicated to EVs in the new year. The aptly dubbed ‘charge park’ will offer commercial EV drivers a place to charge, with the technology and technical support being delivered by Centrica.
NCP has over 500 sites across the UK and manages around 150,000 parking spaces. While it has rolled out EV chargers to some of those car parks, the company’s new ‘charge park’ will concentrate on offering businesses a place to charge up their fleets. The first ‘charge park’ is set to open as part of a pilot trial in 2020.
Centrica will not only be helping with the EV equipment, but the company also offers solutions that focus on solar and battery storage facilities, which can make charging more cost effective. It’s likely that these charge parks will leverage such technology.
“One of the big barriers we need to overcome in terms of adoption is how professional drivers can make time in their day to charge. While there has been a great deal of research in to how to make charging faster, little has been done to enhance convenience, so that charging can fit comfortably in to our busy lives,” said Andreas Atkins, head of electric vehicle strategy, Centrica Innovations
Jonathan Scott, CEO, NCP, added, “Mechanisms such as the congestion charge and Ultra Low Emissions zones are drivers for the adoption of electric fleets. We are investing to grow the number of our sites offering EV charging, but we want to do so in a way that’s fit for purpose for all of our customers.”
