A total of 40 smart-chargers were installed by EO Charging at the main depot of last mile city logistics firm Gnewt Cargo yesterday (14 March).

Gnewt owns the world’s largest fully electric delivery fleet – around 100 vehicles – and delivered more than 2.6 million parcels across the city last year.

The firm’s installation of 63 EO chargers across two sites was enabled through £1m in funding from the Mayor’s office and Innovate UK.

Sam Clarke, founder of the company, said: “Gnewt has been through a rapid growth phase over the last eight years of trading which in turn has put greater focus on the way in which our ever-increasing electric fleet recharges.

“I was impressed how EO tackled this unique challenge and how the innovative yet cost-effective solution was presented.”

Charging up

As part of the project, EO Charging unveiled a number of key innovations for its smart charging solutions such as advance load management, priority charging and demand response.

EO founder Charlie Jardine explained the firm is working with other fleet and logistics businesses to ensure the availability of suitable EV charging infrastructure.

“Whilst the Gnewt Cargo fleet is currently unique, we know that this size of EV fleets will become commonplace in cities over the next few years,” Jardine said.

“We’re fully aligned to Sadiq Khan’s vision of a cleaner, greener London and know that drastic action is required if we are to reduce poisonous emissions by more than half, by 2025, across the city.”

Questions exist around the infrastructure capacity to facilitate the rise of EVs, and many industry players have criticised London’s “woefully inadequate” charging network.

But progress has been made in this area recently. The Greater London Authority (GLA) and Transport for London (TfL) have allocated £4.5m to 25 London boroughs to roll-out 1,500 new charging points.

Meanwhile, the capital’s leading charging network recently announced it is ready to deploy an additional 1,000 charge points across the city.

And charging facilities which draw on 100% renewable energy from street lamp posts are set to be placed on the streets of Kensington and Chelsea, creating the largest network of its kind in central London.

George Ogleby

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