Buckinghamshire Council trials wireless EV charging

Buckinghamshire Council and Char.gy are trialling an electric car club with a wireless electric vehicle (EV) charging system open to the general public.

The On-Street Residential Induction Charger demonstrator (OSRIC) will make a mini-fleet of Renault Zoes, fitted with aftermarket induction charging kits by hiyacar, available to the public who can book the cars through the hiyacar platform for £1 per hour or £5 per day, plus insurance.

The hire cars are being made available to local residents in Marlow, Bucks, so they can test the latest wireless charging technology and also gain experience of driving an EV.

The trial – which has secured funding from the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles and Innovate UK – is to last 12 months.

Councillor Steven Broadbent, Buckinghamshire Council Cabinet Member for Transport, said: “This is a really exciting project and it’s been brilliant to see it in action. Buckinghamshire Council is forward thinking and willing to trial transport innovations such as this.

“The trial will explore the feasibility of wireless charging and will also allow residents who may be hesitant to change to an EV the chance to try one. The car offers hourly or daily rental options so for some people it could be an alternative to owning a car. This technology is still in the early stages but it should all make running an electric vehicle simpler and easier – to ultimately encourage more take up.”

Richard Stobart, CEO and founder of Char.gy said: “As the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) increases, the ability to recharge EVs for drivers without off-street parking poses a challenge without increasing the amount of EV charge points potentially hindering pedestrian freedom of movement.

“EV wireless charging is a promising way of meeting this demand, and trials such as this for the public to use and provide feedback is invaluable to developing this technology. Char.gy appreciates Buckinghamshire Council’s partnership with this project, helping to ensure that the technology will be easily adopted in the future.”

Image: Shutterstock

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