Liberty Global sets sights on sparking on-street EV charging

Liberty Global is utilising the network infrastructure of its UK subsidiary Virgin Media with the aim of improving on-street electric vehicle (EV) charging. The telecoms company says it will utilise Virgin Media’s 40,000 powered street cabinets and 170,000 km of ducts as part of a partnership with Innovate UK. Jason Simpson, Liberty’s vice president global energy and utilities, says the street cabinets allow the company to “look beyond traditional uses of telecom infrastructure and make a positive impact
November 15, 2019 Read time: 2 mins

Liberty Global is utilising the network infrastructure of its UK subsidiary Virgin Media with the aim of improving on-street electric vehicle (EV) charging.

The telecoms company says it will utilise Virgin Media’s 40,000 powered street cabinets and 170,000 km of ducts as part of a partnership with Innovate UK.

Jason Simpson, Liberty’s vice president global energy and utilities, says the street cabinets allow the company to “look beyond traditional uses of telecom infrastructure and make a positive impact on the environment and in communities throughout the UK”.

“By bringing more EV chargers and associated connectivity to Britain’s streets, we are making a significant contribution to Innovate UK’s ambition to encourage more people to buy electric cars,” he adds.

Over the next 18 months, Liberty is to deploy and operate 1,200 charging sockets across the UK. The rollout of EV charging stations which use Virgin Media’s connectivity will build a scalable charging network, the company adds.

Liberty is taking part in the project as part of the Virgin Media Park & Charge consortium whose members include delivery companies such as Vattenfall, tech firms like Cenex and 2223 Loughborough University. Other members include councils in Oxfordshire, London’s Hammersmith & Fulham and Belfast.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Emissions reductions targets to have major impact on transport
    October 28, 2015
    As bold moves aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions have been introduced in California, David Crawford looks at the ramifications for transportation. California Governor Jerry Brown’s recent dramatic raising of the bar on emissions reduction policy for the state has won him praise from Japan, Australia, Europe and the secretariat of the critical UN conference on climate change being held in Paris in November/December 2015. His April 2015 executive order aimed at bringing emissions to 40% below 1990 lev
    Read More
  • MaaS Market London conference attracts global experts
    February 20, 2019
    A plethora of global mobility experts is heading for ITS International’s 2019 MaaS Market Conference, reflecting the increasing pace of Mobility as a Service deployment. Colin Sowman reports Mobility as a Service (MaaS) cannot exist without the digitisation of transport services - and digitisation is without doubt the biggest challenge the transport sector has ever faced. It will create more changes over the next five to 10 years than the transport sector has seen in the past 100 - and there will be winn
    Read More
  • Ricardo to integrate wireless charging system for Electra Solo EV
    February 19, 2018
    Canadian-based Electra Meccanica (EM) has selected Ricardo to integrate a wireless electric vehicle charging system from Qualcomm into a planned autonomous version of its one-seater Solo electric vehicle (EV). The project aims to enable self-driving vehicles to be an option for future mobility services. Qualcomm's Halo system uses resonant magnetic induction to transfer energy wirelessly from a ground-based pad to one integrated within the vehicle. It is then used to recharge the battery while aiming
    Read More
  • Downtown Chattanooga gets smarter
    January 10, 2023
    Seoul Robotics will deliver 86 new smart city intersections in Tennessee city
    Read More

Highlighted Content