Minister announces public EV chargepoint design competition
Tue 21 March 2017
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Speaking at an All-Party Parliamentary Design & Innovation Group event, the transport minister John Hayes announced plans for a public charge point design competition which he hopes will make charge points "not just recognisable, but also attractive, even beautiful".
Hosted by the former Minister of State for Transport, Baroness Kramer, delegates from across the transport and energy sectors came together to discuss how to improve the UK’s capacity to accommodate the next generation of electric cars and, in particular, the impacts on the electricity grid.
Contributing speakers were from Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, Nissan Europe and Imperial College.
Speaking at the event, Mr Hayes said: "I think this varied gathering signifies that on the question of emission-free vehicles, there’s more than a political consensus. There’s a rapidly growing social consensus too."
He announced that he is looking at launching a competition for the next generation of charging points in the UK: "Wouldn’t it help the acceptance of charge points if they were not just recognisable, but also attractive, even beautiful? And so I have wondered about running a public charge point design competition. It would give everyone the chance to have a say. It might elicit something of beauty and efficacy.
"And best of all, it might even create a product to which my name could be linked for time immemorial. One Member of Parliament has already ventured such a name – the Hayes Hook-up. Who could resist one of those?"
The LowCVP has convened and is coordinating a new
EV Network Group to facilitate dialogue between the low carbon automotive and utilities sectors, acting as the conduit for information to be shared between the sectors and UK Government.
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