LCP paving the way for electric car drivers

Leading commercial property investment company LCP has unveiled plans to install high powered electric car chargers at its retail sites.

The firm is working with one of the UK’s favourite networks, InstaVolt, to place tens of electrical charge points across a number of its sites over the coming months.

LCP’s sites will be among the first retail and industrial parks in the UK to benefit from InstaVolt’s new ultra-rapid chargers.

The new stations are capable of charging at 125kW – halving the time it would take drivers of compatible vehicles, such as the Audi e-tron, to charge compared to rapid 50kW chargers.

Barry Flint, asset manager from LCP said it was keen to harness the technology on its sites to provide occupiers and customers with much-needed charging points.

“The technology behind electric cars is moving quickly so it was important for us to have a future-proofed solution across our portfolio,” he said. “What’s exciting about these new charging stations is that they can be upgraded over time as battery technology evolves even further.”

The first LCP sites to have benefitted from the chargers are The Stourbridge Estate, Stourbridge and Astle Retail Park, West Bromwich, with more to be launched in Spring 2020.

At all of the sites, drivers can pay by simply tapping their contactless credit or debit card. They can even use their smart watch to pay if it is set up for contactless payments.

The approach has seen InstaVolt named as the UK’s top charging network for multiple brands of EV for two years in a row.

Adrian Keen, CEO of InstaVolt, said: “We’re working with an increasing number of property portfolio holders who understand the benefits electric car chargers can bring. As well as providing an additional service for existing visitors, they can help to increase footfall and dwell time as EV drivers seek out the location and spend money locally while they charge.”

The electric vehicle charging project is being undertaken at no cost to LCP. Thanks to InstaVolt’s unique approach, where it installs the chargers for free and maintains them for their lifetime, there has been no capital outlay. LCP also benefits from a regular rental income from InstaVolt for housing the chargers on its land.