• New charging point which can be installed onto existing lampposts – making charging easier for drivers without off-street parking – brought to market thanks to researchers at WMG, University of Warwick
• char.gy needed a bespoke electronics board to be designed before entering market – WMG created this, enabling the product to be sold to public
• University of Warwick has bought several char.gy points (“char.gys”) to power electric vehicles on campus

Lampposts could be the answer to electric vehicle charging, thanks to help from researchers at WMG, University of Warwick in bringing a new brand of charging points to market – some of which are powering electric vehicles on the University campus.

Startup company char.gy created a new electric vehicle charging point product – which can be easily installed onto existing lampposts, resulting in no requirement to add another power supply or dig up the road or pathway – but it required a bespoke electronic circuit board in order for it to meet to EU standards for public charge points.

The SME support team at WMG helped char.gy rapidly design, build and test a prototype of the new electronics board in order to achieve the certification deadlines.

Because of this, char.gy was able to complete the product to time, and send it for testing – eventually making the charge points ready for public use.

The University of Warwick not only supported the development of char.gy, but has also purchased “char.gys” to charge electric vehicles across the campus – including the University Estates Team’s new fleet of battery-powered Nissan vans.

Dr David Norman, Electronics Engineer from the SME Group at WMG, commented:

“I worked closely with the char.gy team to develop the final electronic circuits needed for completion of the product. I continued with remote support of the product certification and EMC testing which rounded of my help. It was a really interesting and exciting project to be work on and I am very proud of what has been achieved”

Richard Stobart, CEO of char.gy, commented:

“We want to make it possible for anyone to own an EV – particularly those without off-street parking. char.gy’s mission is to make EV charging as simple as possible for drivers.

“Thanks to WMG for a fantastic service. They understood what we needed and turned around a turnkey solution very quickly that cut our manufacturing costs and allowed us to get into the certification schedule early. I highly recommend them to startups struggling with difficult engineering challenges.”

Through cutting-edge research and an evolving campus infrastructure, the University of Warwick is committed to accelerating the future of energy-efficient electric vehicles, and supporting the growing number of people who use them.

The University of Warwick campus currently has four char.gy points – as well as numerous other electric vehicle charging points - and will purchase more in the near future.

Notes to editors:

Image 1: CEO of Char.gy Richard Stobart (left) and Techonology Transfer Engineer for WMG David Norman with an electric van and char.gy point at the University of Warwick - credit University of Warwick. Click image for high res.

Image 2: One of the new fleet of electric vans used by the Warwick Estates team at a char.gy point on campus - credit University of Warwick. Click image for high res.

WMG is a world leading research and education group and an academic department of the University of Warwick, established by Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya in 1980 in order to reinvigorate UK manufacturing through the application of cutting edge research and effective knowledge transfer.

WMG has pioneered an international model for working with industry, commerce and public sectors and holds a unique position between academia and industry. The Group’s strength is to provide companies with the opportunity to gain a competitive edge by understanding a company’s strategy and working in partnership with them to create, through multidisciplinary research, ground-breaking products, processes and services.

The WMG SME Group is a multidisciplinary team based at WMG, the University of Warwick, pioneering support for innovation in SMEs and larger businesses. We accelerate productivity and growth in these companies by helping them to utilitise research-led tools and techniques, building profitable and collaborative relationships. Over the past 10 years, the SME Group has worked with thousands of SMEs to help them address technology challenges, exploit new market opportunities and gain a competitive advantage.

Every year WMG provides education and training to schoolchildren through to senior executives. There is a growing part-time undergraduate programme for apprentices, as well as full-time undergraduates. The postgraduate programmes have over 2,000 students, in the UK and through centres in China, India, Thailand, South Africa and Malaysia.

char.gy was established in 2016, with the goal of providing the opportunity for those without off-street parking to charge their electric vehicles on the street. char.gy is the only UK public lamp post chargepoint provider to be Alternative Fuels and Infrastructure (AFI) Regulations compliant and ELEXON certified.

The AFI regulation was passed by the UK Government in November 2017, making it a legal requirement for chargepoint providers to support ad-hoc public charging. This legislation enables EV drivers to charge their vehicle at any chargepoint without the need for a particular subscription, membership, card or cable.