Context
The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham is located in West London and is one of the 13 Central London boroughs. It is home to over 180 thousand residents, almost 13 thousand registered businesses, and welcomes around 80,000 workers who commute into the borough every day.
Hammersmith and Fulham has deployed over 130 charge points (as of June 2021) and are considered early adopters of Electric Vehicle (EV) infrastructure. They have the highest proportion of residents with EVs and the largest electric vehicle charging networks of any local authority in the UK. By continuing to increase the number of charge points, the local authority is able to influence behaviour change, moving an increasing number of residents away from petrol and diesel cars and towards electric.
The need for EV charging infrastructure
Using our dedicated Geographical Information System (GIS) tool to collect and analyse data on all relevant factors (e.g., housing types, car registrations and demographics), our expert in-house planning team estimated that Hammersmith and Fulham needs at least 1010 fast on-street charging points by the end of 2025, calculated on a ratio of 8 EVs per charge point socket, and at least 1630 charge points by 2030.
Our method: Smart Planning
The first stage in our modelling involved forecasting electric vehicle uptake in Lower Super Output Areas (LSOAs). This was done with our innovative Geographical Information System (GIS) tool that enabled us to identify the areas with the highest need for EV charging infrastructure. We assessed the location suitability, the overlay of socio-demographic characteristics, housing type, forecast of electric vehicle uptake, grid constraints and infrastructure costs.
Using the GIS tool, we proceeded to categorise the LSOA based on their Local Level of Activation (LLOA), which aggregates the present demand for EV infrastructure with projections of future demand, so that our team could deliver bespoke, future proof and scalable EV charging solutions made to suit the local community.
Outcome and future deployment
We worked with the local authority to select over 70 sites providing capacity for 280 sockets. So far, we have installed over 100 sockets across the borough.
Believ will continue to work with Hammersmith and Fulham to monitor the utilisation of the existing charging points and to strengthen the network with new charge point installations, based on growing demand.
