If you own a single-family home, driving an electric vehicle can be a transcendent experience. Every morning when you wake up to a world full of possibilities, your car will be fully charged and ready to take you wherever you want to go.
But the EV life isn’t so rosy if you don’t have access to a garage or driveway.
Many EV owners in big cities are forced to rely on public fast chargers. Some people have started running wires from their homes to the curb, which can create safety hazards. Some cities, such as Cambridge, Massachusetts, have formalized the practice, allowing people to obtain permits for wheelchair-friendly installations cable protectors extending to the sidewalk. It’s an experiment that mimics some of the convenience enjoyed by homeowners, but it’s a temporary solution, at best.
The low beam might be a better option: They’re everywhere and have all the wiring needed to make charging on the pavement seamless. A startup from New York, Voltpost, is working on a product that retrofits existing streetlights to enable EV charging. On Thursday, it unveiled its lamp charger after a year of design and development.
The device is essentially a cover that covers the bottom of the pole, containing all the electronics and cables needed to charge two to four electric vehicles at Level 2 speeds. It’s not fast charging, but it’s more than enough for most people to they charge it overnight.
Illustration of the main components of the Voltpost lamp post charger. Image Credits: Voltpost
The Voltpost charger attaches at arm’s length to the lamp post cover, and the retractable cable has an anchor eight feet up to keep it off the ground. The design is modular, the company said, to facilitate repairs and upgrades. Charging station managers have access to custom software that will allow them to control rates and remotely monitor devices.
As with almost every EV charger network, there is an app to monitor charging sessions, including payments. Drivers can also use it to hold chargers, an interesting twist “dibs” or “savesies” This will certainly be a convenience for drivers, but could cause some friction between neighbors.
Voltpost said its chargers are installed quickly, taking an hour to complete the process in a trial with the New York Department of Transportation. It also said it has projects in various stages of development and installation in New York, Chicago and Detroit. The startup most recently raised a $3.6 million seed round in July.
