Wise Councils will prevail if LEVI funds plugged in for maximum ROI

By Katharine Alsop 

News that the UK Government had approved another £185 million for local councils to spend on new public charging for Electric Vehicles came just after CTEK enjoyed catching up with a company dedicated to helping those authorities achieve this welcome roll-out of charge points. 

The Government’s approval of funding for 44 more local authorities to receive Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) funding means these dozens more councils will need the expertise of suppliers such as Urban Fox to turn EV charging dreams into plugged-in reality. 

Last week we visited Urban Fox where we discussed the partnership those councils will require and the capacity their suppliers will need, so that together they can plan, procure, install and run what will be a massive expansion in public EV charging. 

As a primary supply partner to Urban Fox for AC charge points, we are excited by the prospects of CTEK’s new CC3 charger, which will bring ease of installation, reliability, and futureproofed capabilities to council installations across the country. 

CC3 supports the latest OCPP (Open Charge Point Protocol) 2.0.1 standard, ensuring smooth interaction with a myriad of third-party hardware and software, in this case enabling Urban Fox and CTEK to seamlessly form a total charging solution. 

The ability of CC3 dual outlet chargepoints to charge two EVs simultaneously means it is perfectly suited to the spatial constraints and high user demand amid urban environments. And CC3 has built-in readiness for quicker, higher power three-phase charging and ‘plug &charge’ automatic billing. 

Local authorities will want to know that their new EV charging installations will not only be reliable straight away but will be able to be easily maintained in the future. CTEK’s CC3 comes with a three-year warranty, extendable to five years, and features many robust components that can be replaced. 

It was great to hear first-hand from Urban Fox about their experience in network planning for resilient and scalable electric vehicle charging networks, and for their ongoing operation and maintenance. And how their parent group has vast experience and capabilities in infrastructure delivery for countless local authorities. 

Urban Fox and CTEK’s CC3 make a great match, and we look forward to many successful tenders for local authorities keen to invest their LEVI funds to create robust, resilient, and user-friendly EV charging networks in their communities.