Surrey County Council has teamed up with Connected Kerb on plans to deliver 10,000 electric vehicle charge points by 2030. 

The rollout will consist of Connected Kerb’s entire product range, including 7kW and 22kW Gecko chargers, Chameleon chargers for on-street and car parks, the wall-mounted Limpet and the Scarab for housing developments

It’s said to be the largest deployment of EV chargers by a UK local authority and will see installations at more than 1,500 locations across streets and public car parks in Surrey.

The rollout is seen as key to accelerate EV uptake in the area; at present, there is one charger per 9,000 residents in Surrey, but this will dramatically increase. Hundreds of charge points will go live in the first year and by 2027, midway through the contract, the partnership will have delivered around 5,000 charge points, including more than 500 rapid devices.

The two firms are also working to ensure charging facilities are inclusive; the ambition is to make one in five of the EV charging bays accessible to drivers with disabilities.

Most of the project is being funded by Connected Kerb, which will provide up to £60m of investment.

The partnership underlines the findings of the recent Net Zero Review which highlighted that local authorities are key to the Government’s expectation of 300,000 public chargers by 2030.

Chris Pateman-Jones, CEO of Connected Kerb, said: “If one local authority can deliver such a significant boost to the UK’s charging network, just imagine what we could achieve by 2030 if every city, county, and combined authority was empowered to do the same. The recent Net Zero Review was clear – local authorities can become the driving force behind the rollout of charging infrastructure across the country, and our partnership with Surrey County Council is case and point.

“If local authorities are the door to a clean transport future, then charging networks like Connected Kerb are the key, providing the tools and expertise needed to unlock the transition at the pace and scale required to reach net zero. Although the Government’s estimate of 300,000 chargers by 2030 may feel ambitious, it’s eminently possible – and necessary – to achieve; this deal proves it.”

Matt Furniss, Cabinet Member for Transport, Infrastructure and Growth, Surrey County Council, said: “Surrey County Council has a commitment to be a carbon net zero county by 2050, and a large part of us achieving that come from supporting residents to make the switch to electric vehicles.

“Over the last two years, we’ve installed over 100 EV charge points in Surrey, and this has given us the opportunity to trial different suppliers and processes. We have an established relationship with Connected Kerb and this contract will enable us to expand our network of charge points and speed up the installation process, to provide services to our residents faster.”

Local authorities are “in the driving seat” of the UK’s EV revolution

The partnership with Surrey has been announced as Connected Kerb publishes its annual report, ‘Sustainable Mobility For Everyone’. The report outlines all deals secured by the company in 2022, which has grown its total network to 1,700 public charging points at over 550 locations across the UK, supporting the findings of the Net Zero Review on the opportunity for local authorities to take a leading role in the UK’s EV charging rollout.

Inclusivity and accessibility were also central to both the Net Zero Review and Connected Kerb’s annual report, which focus on ensuring equal access to reliable charging in all regions – urban and rural – to support drivers without access to driveways. The company’s focus on accessibility and reliability led to a 99.1% charging network uptime in 2022.

Connected Kerb is on track to dramatically accelerate public charging infrastructure around the UK, supported by a £110m investment from Aviva Investors to deliver 190,000 charge points before 2030 – 63% of the Government’s 300,000 charge point estimate.