Dundee's journey in deploying retractable chargers

In Dundee, we pride ourselves on being Scotland’s leading city in the adoption, promotion and operation of electric vehicles. 

In 2019, Dundee City Council were awarded funding as part of an Innovate UK project led by Urban Foresight and in partnership with Plymouth City Council. The project aimed to design, build, install, educate and trial innovative pop-up chargers in the two cities. It was an excellent opportunity to share and learn from this trial of what could be the future of on-street charging solutions. 

The £3 million project aimed to trial Europe’s first fully retractable chargers – an innovation first of its kind on the market. As these units are installed into the pavement, it allows them to extend from the ground up to hip height for easy access, providing a safe and discreet charging solution for EV drivers who don’t have access to off-street parking. The UEOne charge points are designed for convenient kerbside parking for use by residents, visitors and commuters. When not in use, the pop-up chargers automatically retract themselves and integrate seamlessly into the ground. This eliminates the risk of vandalism as well as minimises street clutter and pavement obstruction to improve accessibility. During this trial, the UEOne Smart Phone App enabled EV users to charge their cars simply and conveniently while parked on the street.  

The first pop-up chargers were installed in September 2020 and the trial lasted up until March 2022, when all 26 chargers were in the ground. During this period, we learnt about this charging technology and gained more information on the user experience. 

For more information about the partners involved in this pilot project, check out their websites: 

Urban Foresight – https://urbanforesight.org/ 
Plymouth City Council – https://www.plymouth.gov.uk/cleanstreets 
Urban Electric – https://www.urbanelectric.london/ 
DUKU- https://www.duku.co.uk/  
Co-Wheels -   https://www.co-wheels.org.uk/ 
Appy Way - https://appyway.com/ 

Following this successful 18-month-long trial period, Dundee decided to embrace this innovation and include it in their on-street EV charging strategy once again. Finalised in June 2024, the most recent stage of EV charger deployment in Dundee City Council saw 18 x 7kW UEOne chargers being installed at nine different sites across the city. Under the name of Urban Fox, the supplier delivered infrastructure in the heart of local communities, providing residential streets with a newer edition of these pop-up chargers to future-proof local areas.   

The pilot revealed that the UEone charge point is suitable for installation in up to 80% of streets, including sloped streets. It was important for Dundee City Council that this round of on-street chargers was installed on residential streets, especially areas dominated by flats without access to a driveway.   

2024 saw Dundee deploy 18 x 7kW chargers across the following sites:  

• Roseangle Carpark   
• Findale Street  
• Haywood Place  
• Waterfront   
• Yarrow Terrace  
• Dock Street  
• Woodside Avenue  
• Graham Street  
• South Victoria Dock Road  

With the launch of the Urban Fox mobile app available on Apple and Google devices, users can see all chargers available for use as well as charge points nearest to their locations on the home tab, along with more details about the charge point, e.g. number of sockets available, price per kWh and any additional charges, for example parking charges.   

For more information about the charge point manufacturer and operator, please visit https://urbanfox.network/.