Start-up Trojan Energy has debuted new on-street charge points that sit flush within the pavement, with no permanent raised street furniture at the pavement edge in London. Five Trojan Energy charge points have been installed in Mortimer Road for a small group of trial participants to carry out real-world testing of the prototype system. The full trial of 150 charge points across Brent and Camden will then go live later in the year.

Trojan Energy says these first charge points represent a critical moment in the three-year Subsurface Technology for Electric Pathways (STEP) project funded by the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) and delivered by Innovate UK, which has seen the charge points developed from concept, through manufacturing and now deployment. The company says the system has been designed with input from Disability Rights UK to improve safety for street users.

Trojan Energy says it designed the “flat and flush” charging system for those without access to off-street parking. Fifteen charge points are installed in parallel from one electricity network connection, with power distributed across the chargers. London’s electricity network operator UK Power Networks, a partner in the STEP project, has connected the chargers to the energy system. Trojan Energy says the network is closely involved in ensuring the new chargers can help manage the additional load presented as the uptake in EVs continues and more people charge at peak times.

The full trial will see 10 sets of 15 charge points deployed on six streets in Brent and four streets in Camden. Over 140 EV drivers have already signed up to test the technology in the full trial running from September this year to March 2022. A further 75 have signed up as “prospective” EV drivers, who intend to adopt an EV in the near future, the company says.