A Monmouth schoolgirl has triumphed in a national competition to design a chargepoint for the next generation of electric vehicle.

Fourteen-year-old Lily, a pupil at Monmouth School for Girls, created a drive-over wireless charging device which stood out among the 1,800 entries.

She topped the 7-14 years old section in the Eco Innovators competition launched by the government.

And the teenager visited Coventry University’s National Transport Design Centre (NTDC) last week to work on a 3D model of her creation.

“I designed the chargepoint as a lifestyle change because I know it’s such a chore for anyone to fill up a car,” said Lily.

“I tried to think outside the box and I wanted to make the charging process as simple as possible without adding to street furniture.

“Rather unexpectedly, I ended up winning the national competition. It is very exciting because I never thought it would come to this stage.”

Lily initially put her project together as part of a Year 9 enrichment programme at her school to design an electric vehicle charging point.

Lily won the top prize at school and her winning entry, along with several others, was submitted to the national competition run by the Department for Transport and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy through the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV).

Her design wowed the judging panel from OLEV, Coventry University’s NTDC, Design Council, National Grid, RAC Foundation, Living Streets and EV Thank you.

“As part of my prize, I visited Coventry University’s Techno Park, had a tour of the outstanding facilities and worked with designers,” said Lily.

She saw a demonstration of the advanced technology at NTDC and kicked-started the creation of a full-scale 3D printed model of her design.

Her chargepoint will eventually be displayed at the Electric Vehicle Experience Centre in Milton Keynes.

The government’s ambition is for the UK to have one of the best charging infrastructure networks in the world for electric vehicles.

And the national competition aimed to encourage budding innovators, engineers and artists to learn more about the vital engineering sector and zero-emission transport.

“Monmouth School for Girls has been incredibly supportive and one of my teachers (Miss Linda Woodburn) came up to Coventry with us and it has been a great experience,” said Lily.

“The prospect of my chargepoint being displayed in a museum for the public to see is absolutely incredible.”