A rule change being trialled in Slough, Berkshire, could be a "huge step" for UK homes without driveways, according to a motoring expert. Slough Borough Council has received £130,000 from the Department for Transport’s Electric Vehicle Pavement Channels Grant (EVPCG) to deliver a scheme improving access to home electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
How the cross-pavement channel works
The cross-pavement channel allows residents to install a cable gully into the pavement outside their home and charge on the street without causing hazards. It is the only approved method for running a charging cable across a public footway, the council said. The first installations were made by Kerbo Charge, the council's partner for the scheme, on August 12.
Residents accepted into the trial will pay £399 towards installation costs and arrange installation of their own wall-mounted EV charger. The most suitable properties are those where residents can usually park outside their home and access a ground-floor electricity supply. Through the scheme, residents plug into their home charger, feed the EV cable through the cross-pavement channel, and plug into their vehicle on-street. The channel is flush to the pavement to prevent trip hazards.
Savings and trial details
The scheme could save residents around £4,000 per year compared to using public charging, the council said. There will initially be a one-year trial period, including 20 installations.
Councillor Nadeem Khawar, lead member for environment and public realm at Slough Borough Council, said: "This is an exciting trial and we are grateful to have received the funding to do it. Having no driveway will no longer be a barrier to home charging.
"The cross-pavement channel is unobstructive to those using the pavement and creates easy access for home charging. We have a great network of electric vehicle infrastructure in Slough already, and home charging is becoming more popular. We hope the trial goes well and we can expand it further in time."
Kerbo Charge co-founder Michael Goulden said: "We're delighted to be working with Slough Borough Council on this trial. At its heart, this is about giving residents more choice in how they charge their electric vehicle and helping remove the barriers that can put people off making the switch. We're excited to see more Slough residents make the move to electric in the months ahead."
Potential wider impact
The council's environmental quality team will monitor the success of the first 20 installations before expanding the scheme more widely. Tom Preston, chief executive officer at Hippo Leasing, said the trial was something for EV owners and those considering making the change to "watch closely".
He said: "This trial tackles one of the real reasons EV leasing hasn't worked for everyone. Around a third of UK households don't have a driveway, so home charging has effectively only been available to people with off-street parking. Everyone else has had to rely on the public network, which may cost more and isn't always nearby, and that's put plenty of people off going electric, even when a lease would otherwise suit them.
"If Slough's cross-pavement channels prove reliable over the trial's first year, it could be one of the changes that actually shifts who an EV lease makes sense for. While this won't solve wider public infrastructure overnight, and drivers must remember a channel doesn't grant a reserved parking space outside their home or eliminate initial installation costs, Slough's 20-channel pilot is a huge step in the right direction. If local councils roll this out widely, it may remove a huge barrier for millions of drivers, making cheaper domestic overnight energy tariffs a reality."
"As a leasing provider, that's definitely worth watching closely. Every barrier like this that gets removed brings EV leasing within reach for more households, not just the ones with a drive to park on."
