Most EV drivers conduct the majority of their charging when the car is parked up overnight. However, this can present an issue for those without off-street parking, since one of the most convenient elements of EV ownership is unavailable.
What charge point models are available?
The decision as to what type of on-street charge point is installed in your neighbourhood is down to the council involved. However, there are a variety of different types of charge point that may suit some areas better than others.
One type of on-street residential charge point is installed in or onto lamp posts, removing the need for additional street furniture and potentially keeping costs down.
Other commonly available types are free-standing or pillar units, that look much like public charge points, and positioned near to the kerb to keep the length of cable trailing to the vehicle to a minimum. Developments in this area include telescopic charge points, that can retract into the pavement when not in use.
On-street residential charge point power ratings will vary, typically with whatever is available at the location. The majority will be around 3 kW, similar to a basic home charge point, and fast enough to top-up an EV overnight.
Some will be faster, such as 5 kW or 7 kW, though these will depend on existing power supply available to the area.
How much will it cost?
Some on-street residential charge points require a subscription or for the driver to be signed up to a tariff. In effect, this mirrors the same way of paying that a driver would use when charging at home.
On-street providers such as Connected Kerb and char.gy also take Zap-Pay, the simple way to pay for EV charging from within the Zapmap app.
One of the largest on-street residential charge point providers – ubitricity – has a ‘smart cable’ which includes a meter on the cable itself. This replaces the need for an app or RFID card since it activates and stops the charge, while also calculating how much energy has been used so that the driver can be billed accordingly.
Some systems will operate in the same way as a normal public charging network, requiring an RFID card or app to start and stop the charge, also linked to an account. Since many on-street charge points are operated from power supplies otherwise used by lamp posts etc, councils will typically charge users a fee to use so that energy costs do not get out of hand.
To discover how much it will cost to charge an EV from an on-street residential charge point, head to Zapmap’s Public Charging Calculator. This allows you to select any new or used plug-in vehicle, and tailor elements – such as electricity cost and charge required – for personalised results.
