Greener driving

The council recognises the need to support residents to switch to ultra-low emission and electric vehicles (EV’s) and is working with charge point operators to increase the availability of public charge points in the borough. 

Electric vehicles help to improve air quality as they have no tailpipe emissions of nitrogen oxides and particulates. EVs also produce less noise pollution, which contributes to streets that feel calmer, quieter and more welcoming. 

There are three broad classifications of charge points, based on the power output and charging time:

• ‘Standard’ chargers (3.6kW - 8kw) are best for overnight charging for residential streets with limited off-street parking and usually take between 6 and 12 hours to charge
• ‘Fast’ chargers cover those with 8kW and 22kW power outputs, which typically charge an electric vehicle in 3-4 hours.
• ‘Rapid’ chargers (50kw) typically charge an electric vehicle to 80% in around 30 minutes.
• Ultra-Rapid charging points (100kw) typically charge an electric vehicle in around 15 minutes (but can usually only be used by recent EV’s which support this level of power. 

How long a vehicle takes to charge fully is dependent on the size of the vehicle's battery, how charged it is at the beginning of the charging session and the power output of the charge point used.

Kingston Electric Vehicle Charging Strategy

Electric chargers are available throughout the borough and are increasingly being installed at new sites across the UK on private land, local authority and TfL land.

Our Electric Vehicle Charging Strategy sets out how the council will encourage a shift away from more polluting vehicles to electric vehicle (EV) ownership by developing the charging infrastructure across the borough.

This Electric Vehicle Charging Strategy replaces the council's previous ULEV Policy and Action Plan. 

Where can I find on-street charging points?

You will be able to find on-street charge points mapped on popular EV charging website Zap-Map.

(Please note Zap-Map is a third party service, the council does not control when markers may appear).

Source London fast charging points

The council has worked with Source London to install fast charging points (7kw and 22kw) at 11 sites (17 charging points) during 2020 and 9 more sites (13 charging points) in 2021. 

These Source London charge points have provided EV and plug-in hybrid owners with a total of 50 dedicated EV charging bays they can use across the borough.

You can see these charging points mapped on Source London’s station map.

Rapid Charge Points

In 2020, the council worked with TfL to install 4 Rapid Charge Points (43kw/50kw) on Kingston highway land. These Rapid Charge Points are operated by BP Pulse. 

• Cambridge Road, KT3 3QE
• The Triangle, KT1 3RU 
• South Lane, KT3 5ES
• North Parade, KT9 1QF

You will find other rapid charging points in the borough which are on TRLN ‘Red Routes’ or land owned by TfL - these charging points are overseen by TfL.

Lamp column charging points

Kingston received funding from London Councils’ GULCS (Go Ultra Low Cities Scheme) and further funding from the Office of Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme to install charging points into existing lamp columns. 

We delivered 100 lamp column charging points in 2021 and delivered 156 more in 2023.

These lamp column charging points are best suited to residential streets with limited off-street parking or where residents would be unable to install their own home charging point. To use these charging points download the

SureCharge smartphone apps which are available for both Android and iPhone. Residents can also use the OVO charge app. Please refer to the apps for pricing. 

Please note that the parking restrictions already in place apply when using these lamp column charging points. If the lamp column charging point is in a permit parking area, you will need to have the necessary permit to charge from the lamp column.

Faulty charge points?

If you have difficulty using a specific charge point, please refer the charge point to the operator of the charge point. You can usually also report issues though the smartphone apps used with these charge points. 

Lamp column charging points - SureCharge
Email: surecharge@fmconway.co.uk
Tel: 03332 400 520

Fast charging points - Source London
Tel: 0203 056 8989

Rapid charging points - BP Pulse
Tel: 0800 464 3444

Where else can I charge?

There are currently 12 old model charging points located on Kingston roads and in some of the council car parks.

Car Parks:

• Bittoms Car Park - 1 charger (Slow)
• Blagdon Car Park- 3 (Slow)
• Rose Car Park- 2 (Slow)
• Hook Centre Car Park - 1 (Fast)

On-street charging points:

• Fairfield Road - 1 (Fast)
• St Marks Hill - 1 (Fast)
• Claremont Road - 1 (Slow)
• Bridge Road - 1 (Fast)

Government EV chargepoint grants for landlords, residents and businesses

There are Government grants that are available to landlords, residents and businesses to help with the cost of installing charging points in off-street parking areas they own and control. These are Government grants, these are not administered by Kingston council.

EV charging grant for landlords - a grant towards the cost of installing charging point for those residents who live in flats, rented accommodation and leasehold properties. 

EV infrastructure grant for staff and fleets - a grant towards installing the facilitating infrastructure needed to operate charging points.

Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS) - a grant towards the cost of installing a charging point in a workplace parking area, for use by employees.

Please see the Office for Zero Emissions page for more detailed information: 

Grant schemes for electric vehicle charging infrastructure - GOV.UK

There are also grants available to help towards the cost of purchasing plug-in vehicles. Please see the Office for Zero Emissions page for more detailed information: 

Grants for plug-in vehicles - GOV.UK

Charging at home? 

If you have your own private driveway next to your own property you may be able to install a home charge point on the side of your property.

If you do not have off-street parking at your property it is important that you do not trail a charging cable from your property over the pavement to your vehicle parked on the road. 

Such a cable could pose a trip hazard and you could be held liable for any accidents if a pedestrian were to trip up on the cable.

Suggest a location for an on-street electric vehicle charge point

If you would like to suggest a location for on-street charge points, we now have a new Kingston Let's Talk Electric Vehicle Charging Point survey where you can provide your suggestions to us directly.

We have also provided some Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) information to accompany the survey and to provide residents with more context about how on-street electric vehicle charging points are delivered.

Please be advised that the installation of on-street electric vehicle charging points is generally approached in batches, meaning any suggestion will be added to a list and reviewed when we are able to work with a charging point operator to determine if there is a location nearby where an on-street charging point can be delivered.  

As such it is not generally possible to give a specific timeframe for delivery of a specific charging point. We may use your suggestions to determine where to deliver on-street charging points across a range of different charging point projects.

If you live in Sutton, a similar survey is available for residents of the London Borough of Sutton. We have provided this link as some future on-street electric vehicle charging point projects could be undertaken jointly across both boroughs.