Lancashire County Council has chosen Welsh startup Charge Gully to pilot a new trial of cross-pavement charging solutions for electric vehicle (EV) drivers without driveways.
Charge Gully aims to help EV drivers who do not have access to off-street parking charge their vehicles at home by carving small, lockable channels through the pavement which sit entirely flush with the pavement surface, through which an EV charger cable can be run and connected to the vehicle. This eliminates the risk of tripping over a cable or cable mat, as the charger cable and infrastructure are below the pavement surface, and the lock on the channel helps prevent theft of the charger when charging overnight.
Now, Lancashire residents will be soon able to apply to the local council for planning permission to install the outside their homes, with Charge Gully and two other cross-pavement solution providers offered as options for installations.
The news follows the UK government publishing guidance for local authorities to enable them to develop policies to allow homeowners to install cross-pavement charging systems across public pavements. When developing policies, local authorities are being asked to consider the availability of parking adjacent to the applicant’s property, whether the local authority or the supplier should be responsible for installing and maintaining the solution, who is liable for the costs of installation and obtaining licenses and permissions, and suggested minimum standards for installed charging channels.
Ian Mach, director of Charge Gully, said the company is “delighted” to be working with the council.
Councillor Shaun Turner, cabinet member for Environment and Climate Change at Lancashire County Council said: “We are very keen to support more Lancashire residents to be able to make the swap to electric vehicle use, which is much better for the environment.
“More than 100 residents have applied for Lancashire County Council’s recent trial of three different types of cross pavement channels, also known as ‘cable trays’ which are sited on residential roads across all 12 districts in the borough. These charging cable trays can make a huge difference to users’ time, finances and opportunities to access more days out and employment and training opportunities.”