char.gy has installed its 5,000th public EV charge point in the UK, with the milestone unit delivered in Brighton & Hove as part of a council plan to deploy around 6,000 kerbside chargers across the city. The on-street charging operator describes the achievement as a shift from pilot to mainstream for lamp-column charging. The deployment uses existing street furniture and is powered by renewable electricity supplied through a partnership with EDF. char.gy’s on-street charging model targets the roughly 40% of UK homes without off-street parking, the population the company identifies as least served by conventional home charging.
Highlights
- 5,000 public charge points are now live across char.gy’s UK network, with the milestone unit installed in Brighton & Hove.
- Brighton & Hove City Council is deploying around 6,000 kerbside charge points, which the company describes as the largest on-street programme outside London.
- Reading Borough Council has partnered with char.gy on around 2,600 charge points, targeting public chargers within 100 metres of at least 90% of households without off-street parking.
- Around 40% of UK homes have no off-street parking, the segment char.gy’s kerbside model is built to reach.
Brighton & Hove Leads Deployment Outside London
The 5,000th charge point was installed under Brighton & Hove City Council’s plan to deploy around 6,000 kerbside charge points across the city. The company characterizes the programme as the largest on-street charging rollout in the UK outside London. The majority of the city’s residents rely on on-street parking, which char.gy reports is the primary obstacle to EV adoption for those households.
Where char.gy Is Expanding Next
Deployment is accelerating in several local-authority areas beyond Brighton & Hove. In Barnet, char.gy reports installing 300 charge points in six weeks as part of a 500-unit rollout already in use by local drivers. Reading Borough Council has partnered with the company on around 2,600 charge points across the borough, with at least 90% of households without off-street parking set to be within 100 metres of a public charger. On the Isle of Wight, more than 1,500 charge points are planned, which the company says will bring on-street charging to the Island at scale for the first time.
These council partnerships mirror the funding-backed expansion char.gy outlined when it secured a £100 million commitment from the Zouk Capital–managed Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund, capital intended to grow the network toward 100,000 charge points by 2030.
How the Kerbside Model Works
char.gy installs charge points at the kerbside using existing street furniture such as lamp columns, an approach the company says minimises installation disruption while extending reach into residential streets. The design is aimed at the roughly 40% of UK homes without off-street parking, where the absence of a convenient charging location has been the main barrier to going electric. The same lamp-column approach underpinned char.gy’s migration of legacy chargers onto its own operating platform under a recent council contract.
The network is powered by renewable electricity supplied through char.gy’s partnership with EDF. The supply is backed by Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO) certificates, which verify that electricity matched to the network is generated from renewable sources and fed into the UK grid.
What Company Leadership Said
John Lewis, CEO of char.gy, said: “Reaching 5,000 charge points is a proud moment for char.gy, but what it really represents is thousands of households across the UK who can now seriously consider going electric. The councils we work with, from Brighton to Barnet, Reading to the Isle of Wight, are making bold commitments to their residents, and we’re proud to be the partner helping them deliver them. On-street charging has moved from the margins to the mainstream — and it’s becoming an essential part of how the UK gets to net zero.”
Raghav Singh, Business Supply Director at EDF, said: “char.gy’s 5,000th charge point is a strong example of how quickly on-street EV charging is expanding across the UK. As demand for electric vehicles grows, access to convenient, reliable charging powered by renewable energy will be essential in supporting more drivers, particularly those without off-street parking. We’re proud to be helping power this network with renewable energy, and it’s great to be working alongside char.gy as they continue to scale and make on-street EV charging more accessible for communities across the country.”
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