Could you charge your EV through the pavement?

There is a bit of a problem with electric vehicles (EVs) at the moment, according to a report from Faircharge and the RAC, as fast and rapid public chargers currently cost more than petrol to ‘fill up’ a car. This is not as terrible as it sounds, as it is still cheaper to fill up your car at home (thanks to the five per cent VAT rather than 20 per cent on home electricity supply). But then there is a second problem ‒ 60 per cent of London homes do not have a driveway to park their car.

And it gets worse. Running a cable from your house to your car is technically illegal without permission from the local council, and some boroughs will happily prosecute those who do not follow the rules. When the Evening Standard contacted inner London boroughs about this, we found differing policies: Islington did not condone the activity but did not enforce any penalty; Hackney “investigates any reports” (and actively encourages people to report their neighbours); while Tower Hamlets “would use our enforcement powers to remove the offending cables”.

There are other risks to those who chance it. EV insurance policies now cover drivers for trips or falls on their own charging cables but they also offer warnings that other people tripping could trigger a negligence legal action.

Mark Hall, from rubbish removal company Divert.co.uk, says leads and chargers can fetch up to £200 and have become a target for thieves.

So, 60 per cent of Londoners face a stark choice: pay a 20 per cent premium on charging up cars, run the risk of council enforcement and cable theft or move to a house with a driveway. There is another way; a growing number of companies will cut into the pavement in front of your home and insert a channel for running charging cables through.

“I jumped to an electric car in 2021 because my old Golf was non-Ulez,” says Michael Goulden, co-founder of Kerbo Charge. “There was a charger two streets away but the price difference annoyed me every time and making sure you could actually use the charger was a nightmare. I’d go have a look and it was free, but by the time I’d driven round someone was parked there.”

Inspired by his experiences, Goulden – who describes himself as a ‘recovering management consultant’ – launched his cable-channel company. Initially partnering with Milton Keynes council, he came up with a polymer cable channel with a self-closing lid that’s flexible enough to flex with the pavement’s surface.