If you own a single-family home, driving an electric car can be a great experience. Every morning, you wake up to a world full of possibilities, your car fully charged and ready to go anywhere.
If you don't have access to a garage or driveway, your EV life won't be so rosy.
Many EV owners in large cities are forced to rely on public fast chargers. Some people run cables from their home to the curb, but this can pose a safety issue. Some cities, such as Cambridge, Massachusetts, have formalized this practice, allowing people to receive permits to install wheelchair cable protectors on sidewalks. While this is an experiment in mimicking some of the conveniences enjoyed by single-family homeowners, it's a temporary solution at best.
Low streetlights may be a better option. Streetlights are everywhere and have all the wiring needed to facilitate roadside charging. One of his New York City startups, Voltpost, is working on a product that retrofits existing light poles to enable EV charging. The company unveiled the streetlight charger on Thursday after a year of design and development.
The device is essentially a shroud that wraps around the bottom of a utility pole and includes all the electronics and cables needed to charge 2 to 4 EVs at Level 2 speeds. It's not fast charging, but it's enough for most people to charge overnight.
Diagram of the main components of the Voltpost street light charger. Image credit: Voltpost
The Voltpost charger is docked at hand height on the shroud of a light pole, and the retractable cable has an 8-foot-tall anchor to keep it off the ground. The company says the design is modular, making it easy to repair and upgrade. Charging station managers have access to custom software that allows them to control prices and remotely monitor devices.
As with almost all EV charger networks, there is an app to monitor charging sessions, including payments. Drivers can also use this to book chargers. It's an interesting twist on “dibs” or “savegies,” and while it's certainly convenient for drivers, it can cause friction with neighbors.
The company's chargers are quick to install, and tests with the New York City Department of Transportation took an hour to complete, according to Boltpost. It also said it has projects in various stages of development and deployment in New York, Chicago and Detroit. The startup recently raised a $3.6 million seed round in July.