January 14, 2014 11.06 am This story is over 122 months old

Firm installs electric car charging points for 1p

Charge up: Freewatt are offering Lincolnshire residents electric car charging points in their homes for just a penny thanks to a government scheme.

A Lincoln energy company is offering to install electric car charging points in homes for just a penny.

Freewatt can offer the charging points at 1p thanks to a £13.5 million Government grant scheme.

The scheme aims to future proof homes for growth in electric cars, meaning residents don’t have to own an electric or hybrid car to get a charging point.

However, they do need to own the home or have permission from the landlord.

The Pod Point charging units, worth £1,000, will fully charge most electric or hybrid vehicles from empty in six to eight hours.

Or home owners can upgrade to a 7kw fast charge unit for £90, which cuts charging times down to just three hours.

The 3.7kW Pod Point chargers can be fitted in a garage or on an external wall.

The units are the most popular home charge unit at present in Europe, being fitted in homes in 14 different countries.

The unit will work with Nissan Leaf, Mitsubishi iMiEV, Citroen C-Zero, Peugeot Ion, Ford Connect EV, Vauxhall Opal Amera, Toyota Prius PHEV, Renault Kangoo and the Renault Fluence.

Freewatt CEO Julian Patrick said: “It’s a fantastic scheme and we would encourage as many people in Lincolnshire to apply as soon as possible.

“There is a limited amount of public funding to prepare for the future and we want as many homes in the area to take advantage as possible.

“Electric cars are becoming more viable, affordable and practical and in the years to come they will be more and more common.

“It makes sense to prepare your home for the possibility and with the funding available it makes it so cheap that people have nothing to lose.”

Additional charges for energy consumption from the electric car charging point still apply.