Mer installs EV chargers at King’s College London

EV charging specialist Mer is to install charging points at King’s College London, to grow its network of EV chargers across multiple sites.

This included replacing older charging points with smart chargers, adding provisions in new locations, networking all the chargers, and providing a back-office system for monitoring and reporting.

King’s was 24th in the latest Times Higher Education Impact Rankings that measure universities against the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The university has purchased 100% of its electricity from UK wind energy since October 2017.

Mer carried out extensive site surveys across the King’s estate to identify utilisation rates of existing chargers. Mer’s team also pinpointed the optimal locations for additional charge points such as the new sports centre at Honour Oak Park in South London. In total Mer installed 15 AC charge points across eight sites, a mixture of 7kW and 22kW fast chargers.

Stevie Jones, Associate Consultant for Fleet and Workplace Charging at Mer, said: “King’s was an early adopter of EV charging, but those older chargers were very limited in terms of the information they could provide.”

Mer swapped out older infrastructure for smart chargers that can be networked and easily managed via the Mer Connect platform. This gives the sustainability team full visibility of who is using the chargers and when, as well as providing data on the carbon saved compared to using diesel vehicles.

The Mer Connect portal enables clients to manage individual or multiple sites, providing real time information on carbon savings, charger status and energy usage. It also allows site managers to set multiple tariffs for different use cases – for example, free charging for fleet vehicles, subsidised charging for employees, and a higher rate for visitors. Drivers can access the charge points via the Mer Connect app.

Alexandra Hepple, sustainability officer at King’s College London, said: “We have our own growing EV fleet and increasingly our contractors also use electric vehicles, leading to higher demand for charging. Mer has done a fantastic job of creating a charging network that suits our needs today and also enables us to expand in years to come.”