A pop-up electric vehicle charger that lies flat and flush with the pavement when not in use will be tested on residential streets in two UK councils. The problem is that half of all cars parked overnight in UK cities are on the street, but most councils lack the money and the street space to install traditional charging bollards or posts. The current approach creates clutter, obstructs pavements, and relies on public funding that councils say they do not have. This demonstrator tests a self-funded alternative: a toolkit that combines pop-up chargers, smart parking apps, and a revenue-sharing model that could double parking income at 50% charger utilisation. If the 9-to-12-month trial of up to 18 charging hubs succeeds, the result is a patent-protected, commercially deployable system that councils can roll out without ongoing public subsidy. The chargers integrate into the streetscape, avoid trip hazards, and are operated via an app with tap-and-pay. The project also trials the Toolkit itself as a decision-making tool for other councils, and runs a design challenge for integrating charging hardware into city furniture. This is applied engineering infrastructure research with a direct, near-term route to deployment.
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Our feasibility study showed that a) councils need both information and guidance, and a new type of charging architecture if they are to support electric vehicle (EV) charging in public places at-scale; b) on-street public charging is possible with a flexible and context-specific "toolkit" approach with "pop-up" EV chargers integrated with smart parking; and c) a majority of councils do not have the financial resources or desire to fund EV infrastructure at scale. The study identified that: A 'flat and flush' charging infrastructure solution which both avoids street clutter and obstructions when not in use and integrates EVSE into the streetscape is an extremely attractive on-street solution for both councils and pavement users. This solution is suitable for both residential and public/visitor parking. The development of smart city system within system solutions - integrating charging into parking apps - will significantly improve customer experience. Feeder pillars integrated into street furniture has potential and will be prototyped in Phase 2. Councils have insufficient funding to cope with the forecast demand for urban charging, particularly 'at home' on-street charging, so a fully self-funded solution is required . Councils can be incentivised with a revenue share model that at 50% chargepoint utilisation will double the revenues from parking alone. Our demonstrator will prove that, supported through an integrated parking and charging policy, pop-up chargers can offer a driver-friendly, aesthetically pleasing and rapidly scalable means of providing on-street charging for the 50% of cars that are parked on-street at night in our cities - without the need for public sector funding contribution post-demonstrator. The demonstrator will consist of up to 18 hubs deployed with two different councils for a 9-12 month period. Hubs will be mainly installed in residential and public streets with on-street parking and will consist of 3 to 6 chargepoints in each hub that will result in a patent-protected solution ready for commercial deployment. To reduce costs and improve the user experience, the solution is to be developed as an app-operated dual socket featuring tap and pay. The Phase 2 project will also demonstrate other elements of the Toolkit plus the viability of the Toolkit itself. We will trial the Toolkit as a decision making and strategy generation tool in the context of a variety of different councils. We will also run a design challenge to prototype the most innovative approaches to integrating EVSE within the cityscape.
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