Last month Chargemaster announced that it had provided its Chargevision back end management system technology to both Oxford and Milton Keynes enabling EV drivers to seamlessly charge their cars in either Oxford or Milton Keynes with the use of a single RFID smart access card. There are a total of 74 EV charging bays in the two cities.

From today the scheme is being extended to include charging points in Cambridge and also in the London Borough of Hillingdon, West London which is the centre of a major government funded Ford demonstration project for EVs. Chargemaster is actively leading the way to promote interoperability right across the charging posts in the UK.

Southern Electric Power Distribution, part of Scottish and Southern Electric (“SSE”), has furthermore announced today the installation of fourteen public charging bays in Hillingdon, supplied by Chargemaster to support the Ford Electric Vehicle Project and other EV users. These will all also operate using Chargevision facilitating the interoperability with the other regions.

This increased network will provide full interoperability between these four cities and increases the distances that EV drivers can travel in their cars therefore reducing ‘range anxiety’. The Chargemaster system enables motorists to view on-line where charging posts are located and whether they are currently available therefore allowing them to top up their cars while on a shopping trip or visiting family in a different town. For instance the EV driver that lives in Milton Keynes may now drive to Cambridge, park, and charge his car without any hassle or concerns and using the same RFID smartcard issued by Chargemaster. Chargemaster are actively working with other cities including London and the new Plugged in Place locations to promote interoperability right across the country.

Chargemaster has worked closely with and SSE and Arup, the multi-national consulting engineers, to facilitate the interoperability across the four regions. Arup’s associate director, Tim Armitage, said: “This is an exciting and significant initiative for Electric Vehicle motoring as it will not only link the four regions via the rapidly expanding network, but also lead in example of the possibilities for other areas in the UK that are looking to become EV friendly.”

David Martell, chief executive of Chargemaster, said: ‘’Interoperability between cities is something which will greatly contribute to the government’s carbon reduction plans by making electric vehicles more usable. There has been some criticism of lack flexibility in operating EVs and interoperability between cities is crucial. The Chargevision scheme allows EV users more peace of mind when travelling and the increased number of bays means they can now charge their cars while out shopping or visiting a leisure centre. Chargemaster is pleased to provide the advanced technology to make such schemes operate successfully and thereby help make low carbon motoring a really practical transport choice for environmentally concerned individuals and companies.”