The Low Carbon London trial will offer the units thanks to funding from UK Power Networks via the Low Carbon Networks Fund, and Transport for London through the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) Plugged-in Places grant.

Data collected will be used to plan around projected demand spikes, and design the electrical networks to cope. Participants will be able to keep the 16-amp charging units, which can fully charge a car in around six hours, once the trial is complete in 2014.

Liam O’Sullivan, Low Carbon London programme director, explained: ‘Until now, grant funding in London has largely gone to support publicly-available charge points on the street or in public car parks, for example. With speculation that most EV charging will be done within owners’ homes or workplaces this is an opportunity to help reduce the owners’ costs and tackle range anxiety.’