RESIDENTS across Shropshire will be amongst the first in the UK to take part in a pioneering new project that could save them hundreds of pounds every year when publicly charging electric vehicles.

Shropshire is one of four regions to take part in the world-leading scheme to demonstrate how smart technology can be integrated into public EV chargers across the UK, to support the green energy revolution and collectively save consumers millions of pounds in the process. Shropshire was chosen due to reported high demand for public EV charging points from locals.

EV ownership is skyrocketing, with UK registrations up 139 per cent in 2021 compared to last year already, or 37 per cent in Shropshire.

However, the 40 per cent of UK households without off-street parking have to rely on the public charging network to charge EVs, which at present is usually more expensive than charging on a driveway. Unlike those who can charge at home, drivers without off-street parking cannot benefit from smart energy tariffs which shave hundreds of pounds off the cost of charging every year. This creates significant inequality between road users, as outlined in a report commissioned by the UK Government.

Now, a UK-first government backed project, Agile Streets, will address this challenge. In Shropshire, the project will see 24 on-street smart chargers installed by Connected Kerb and will be the first in the UK to integrate smart metering technology into public on-street chargers. This cuts the cost of EV charging by as much as 40 per cent.