Elmbridge Borough Council is ramping up its EV charging provision with work to install 25 new charge points in the area.

L-R: Councillor David Young, portfolio holder for climate change and sustainability at Elmbridge Borough Council, with Tom Glanville, business development manager at SMS

It’s appointed SMS Plc, the smart energy infrastructure group, to increase EV charging availability by fitting the charging stations across eight separate, council-owned locations. These include the Civic Centre, Drewitts Court car park and Community Transport centre at River Mole Business Park, along with five community centres.

The new project enhances transportation options for Elmbridge’s elderly and vulnerable while also supporting the borough’s fleet, employees and residents with switching to EVs. The EV chargers at the community centres in Claygate, Cobham, Hersham and Walton-on-Thames will be available to residents between 18:00 and 08:00, seven days a week.

SMS has also installed four 22kW chargers at Elmbridge Borough Council’s Civic Offices, and six 22kW and one 60kW rapid charger at the council’s Transport Depot.

Infrastructure for a further nine passive chargers have also been placed there, which will be connected as more of the council’s fleet transition to electric vehicles as part of its Green Fleet Strategy.

The combination of rapid and fast (overnight) chargers have been installed at the depot to ensure charging needs of Elmbridge’s EV fleet are fully met.

The new chargers join the 12 existing EV chargers already located in Elmbridge’s pay and display car parks.

Councillor David Young, Portfolio Holder for Climate Change and Sustainability at Elmbridge Borough Council, said: “Working with SMS to improve accessibility to EV charging in the borough has been a crucial step forward in our sustainability journey, and will help our residents to make the switch to electric vehicles. At Elmbridge Borough Council, we prioritise protecting the natural environment, and this will help us to reduce our carbon emissions and improve air quality within our neighbourhoods.”

Lee Feihn, head of EV infrastructure at SMS, said: “Providing smart and accessible energy solutions for communities is the heart of what we do, and it’s a pleasure to partner with Elmbridge Borough Council to enhance EV charging options in the area and help them realise their sustainability goals.

“SMS’s industry expertise and engineering capabilities enable us to manage the end-to-end design, installation, and deployment of EV charging infrastructure in Elmbridge. We are confident that we’ve provided the best solution for the borough, which will ensure more of the area’s transport fleet, residents and workers have access to EV chargers as and when they need them.”