Dundee is to become the first Scottish city to have “pop-up” electric car charging stations.
Retractable charging stations, which will resemble bollards, are to be installed in the city as part of a major trial.
They will be embedded in the ground and only rise up when needed.
The stations are the work of smart-city consultancy Urban Foresight, which has been awarded £3 million from the UK Government’s Innovate UK scheme.
Plymouth is also benefiting from the initiative.
A Dundee City Council spokeswoman said it marks the first time pop-up chargers will be brought to Scotland “on a large scale”. Some other trials have taken place elsewhere in the UK.
The spokeswoman also confirmed no decision has yet been made about where they will be sited.
Both Dundee and Plymouth will see up to 18 charging hubs installed each, mostly in residential and public streets with on-street parking. There will between three and six chargers per hub.
It is hoped the project shows pop-up chargers can offer an “aesthetically pleasing” and efficient means of providing charging points for vehicles parked on-street at night.
Dr David Beeton, Urban Foresight CEO, said: “Dundee is already recognised as one of the best places in the world to drive an electric vehicle.
“We’re delighted to have secured this additional investment for the city, which should make it even easier for many more people to go electric. ”
Councillor Alan Ross, the council’s city development convener, has welcomed the funding.
He said: “Dundee now enjoys an international reputation for its electric vehicle vision thanks to the innovative work carried out by the council, Urban Foresight and others.
“This new funding will allow the testing of pop-chargers and is an innovative development that will help people who park their vehicle on the street.
“I will be excited to see how this helps us take electric vehicle use forward in the city.”
The funding follows a feasibility study carried out by Urban Foresight earlier this year.
The project will also include the development of a toolkit which should support other local authorities in rolling out similar infrastructure.
Oxford became one of the first cities in the world to trial the charging points last year, when 20 ‘UEone’ retractable bollards were installed across the city.
