Cheltenham-based design company Duku has developed a pop-up electric vehicle charge point, claiming it to be a world first. Six of them are on trial in Oxford.

A pop-up design was adopted to reduce street clutter, but the amount of historical architecture and utilities under Oxford pavements meant minimal available underground space.

“It’s an absolute mess below the pavement in many places,” said Duku director Alex Lee. “Minimising the depth below the ground was one of the big challenges, but at the same time, it needed to rise up to 800mm to make it accessible.”

Initially a tall narrow minimal footprint design was tried, but there were problems stability and strength, leading to the adoption of a bespoke telescopic cylinder that retracts and extends in two stages – reaching the required height while minimising installation depth.

Once retracted into the ground, to avoid becoming a trip-hazard, the charge points sit completely flush with the pavement.

“We had to ensuring the charging point didn’t rise if someone has parked a car over it, and that it wouldn’t power up until a car is attached,” said Lee. “We had to tackle the constant movement of cables within the cylinder, and all the regulations in place for EV charge points, not to mention the EMC testing to make sure it doesn’t interfere with nearby electrical devices.”

Electrical components were miniaturised and waterproofed, and the final tapered profile wraps closely around the parts inside. “It’s as small as we could make it – we designed it to look sleek when raised,” said Lee. “When it’s in the ground, it will only be noticeable by an illuminated LED ring.”

Prototypes were developed using 3D CAD and made using rapid prototyping techniques including 3D printing and CNC machining.

A six-month reliability trial is underway, to be followed by a review, a second development phase, and a larger scale roll-out, as well as the introduction of an app-based user interface.

As well as discovering undocumented cables and gas pipes when the initial six posts were installed, “another issue we came across was how the chargers affected parking on residential streets”, said Lee. “Local residents didn’t want to attract everyone who owns an electric car to park on their street.” To prevent any influx, only residents in the trial can gain access to the posts. They will also be able to book an electric car loaned for the duration.

The project was made possible by £474,000 of funding from the Office for Low Emission Vehicles, and administered by Innovate UK.

Alongside Duku, partners include Urban Electric Networks and Oxford City Council.