- Pavement EV charging solution Kerbo Charge expand their operations with a new trial available to residents of electric cars in County Durham.
- The system is one solution to the dilemma of on-street charging at home.
- Kerbo Charge are already trialing the pavement channels in Milton Keynes.
Kerbo Charge’s next pilot EV charging scheme
Kerbo Charge’s system, which allows electric car owners without off-street parking to run their charging cable through a trip-free channel installed in the pavement, has been given permission to be piloted in County Durham, with 30 properties taking part in the new trial. This comes after a similar pilot scheme in Milton Keynes.
The council got in touch with Kerbo Charge to arrange a trial after it received messages from multiple EV residents who wanted a solution for charging up, without a dedicated spot off-street to charge up. The trial is being partly funded by the council’s own Climate Change Investment Fund.
The solution comes in at £999 including fitting – a heavy investment, but by saving approximately £25 compared to a public chargepoint each time you charge up, the company says that the investment will break even in just 40 charges.
Hundreds of towns and cities across the country have the same issue when it comes to a lack of off-street parking to charge up EVs. Think, for instance, narrow terraced streets. with residents either resorting to laying trip-worthy cables over the pavement, leaving them open to liability, or having to resort to more expensive public charging points. This situation, without adequate solutions such as Kerbo Charge, creates a significant hindrance to the attractiveness of electric vehicles in those areas.
“County Durham has many terraced streets and properties without driveways. Whilst we have installed hundreds of publicly accessible electric vehicle charge points in every area in the county, this solution will allow residents to access electric vehicle charging at home, making it easier for more people to drive an electric vehicle and reduce their carbon emissions. It also supports our work as part of our Climate Emergency Response Plan where we are working towards reducing emissions across the county.”
Councillor John Shuttleworth, Cabinet member for Highways, Rural communities, and Community safety, Durham County Council
The importance of these solutions
Kerbo Charge’s solution is only part of the mix when it comes to ensuring that everyone has adequate access to charging with the ongoing switch to EVs. Some without off-street parking may have dedicated chargers at work, which allows them to keep their EV topped up throughout the week even if they have no place to charge at home.
Solutions such as Kerbo Charge are essential for encouraging more drivers to make the switch to an electric vehicle – particularly important to ensure the 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel cars stays on track, as resistance against the deadline comes from within the government.
