A West Midlands aluminium castings manufacturer has landed a contract to design and make electric vehicle charging points that signals a step in the right direction for developing much-needed EV infrastructure.
Coventry-based Sarginsons Industries has diversified its traditional castings supply business to become the sole supplier of full-electric charging units to on-street EV charge point provider, Char.gy.
Sarginsons has designed and manufactured die-cast tooling, machining fixtures and test equipment for the UK-wide project and has also indicated that new jobs at the firm will be created to work on the manufacture and assembly of the units.
Sarginsons managing director, Anthony Evans (left), with Char.gy project manager, Myles Roberts, Sarginsons Technology Centre manager, Gavin Shipley, and Char.gy CEO, Richard Stobart (right)
The technology, which Char.gy has reportedly spent the past two years developing, involves its charging points being mounted onto streetlamps or single charging bollards in (largely) urban areas that draw power from the National Grid and provide power sources for all-electric or hybrid vehicles.
Char.gy is reportedly currently working with several local councils across the country to fit the technology, with Sarginsons’ hometown of Coventry thought to be one of the first to benefit.
A gap in the market
Char.gy chief executive officer, Richard Stobart, used his career in technology to develop the Char.gy concept after a personal incident that led to him identifying a gap in the market.
“I wanted to drive an electric car, but I was living in an urban street with no garage or off-street parking, so I needed to be able to charge it on the street outside my home.
“I looked at the lamppost and thought there must be away of tapping into its supply and, being from a tech background, I devised one.
“It’s taken several years to bring it to this point where we now have units already installed around the country. It’s great to now be working with Sarginsons on this project and we look forward to seeing the orders grow as more and more authorities see the benefit of this technology.”
The Char.gy contract is part of Sarginsons’ Design for Manufacture excellence offering, according to the managing director of Sarginsons Industries, Anthony Evans, in which clients collaborate with Sarginsons through the design phases of a new product or component.
“The core of our business is very much around lightweighting and we have put sustainability and green technologies at the heart of everything we do. So, it’s great to be working with another business who have this at their core,” commented Evans.
“It is our ambition to grow and find new markets and this is a great example of that – it’s definitely something we will look to build on.
“We have invested significant time and money into our new Technology Centre and are working in collaboration with universities and research centres to ensure it is at the cutting edge of research and development,” he added.
