Boosting the uptake of electric vehicles (EVs) is a key part of the UK’s net zero strategy, and with the ban on new fossil fuel powered cars rapidly approaching, EV infrastructure is becoming an increased area of focus.
The ability to charge one’s EV at home is a major improvement to the EV ownership experience; not only can you keep your car conveniently close and in sight, but home EV charging is much cheaper than public chargepoint options, and the increased number of smart charge and EV based electricity tariffs is widening the gap. As much as many EV owners – and would-be EV owners – wish to be able to charge their vehicle at home, for the significant proportion of homeowners without access to a driveway, this is simply impossible. Trailing EV charger cables across the pavement to your car is insecure, dangerous for pedestrians, and liable to land you in hot water with the local council.
Current± spoke to Ian Mach, a chartered civil engineer with over a decade of experience in the construction industry, who explained how his company, Charge Gully, is democratising access to EV charging across the UK. Mach designed a lidded metal channel, sitting flush with the pavement, that allows a charger to be safely run across a pavement.
What inspired the launch of the company?
While living in a terraced house in Cardiff that didn’t have a driveway, I realised that the only way to make electric car ownership affordable was to charge it using a home charger, but trailing a cable across the pavement or hanging it from a window was unsafe and prohibited by local councils. So I set out to solve the problem myself.
In 2022, I set out to develop a solution, and after 12 months of R&D, I launched the first version of the product.
Where does Charge Gully fit into the market, and what problem are you working to resolve?
Charge Gully is the only cable gully on the market that is both lockable and easy to install. The lockable cover, operated using a special key, ensures that third-parties cannot pull the cable out of the channel and create a trip hazard. This also complies with the British Standards which require channel covers in pedestrian areas to be secured with a tool. Unlike competitors, it doesn’t leave a gap in the pavement and is made of durable aluminium which will not deteriorate under UV exposure. As it is super slim, it can be installed quickly and easily within the surface of any type of pavement.
Public chargers are impractical – they are not on people’s doorsteps – and cost between five and ten times more than charging on a domestic EV tariff. The latest Zapmap Index Survey even shows that charging an electric car using public chargers costs £400 more annually than fuelling an equivalent petrol or diesel car. A 2022 study by the Department for Transport showed that 93% of EV drivers surveyed had access to home charging, highlighting how providing access to home charging is crucial if we want to get everyone to switch and meet CO2 reduction targets. Without acting, there is a big risk of creating a two-tier system, where less wealthy residents who cannot afford properties with a driveway are hit with a double whammy, having to rely on exorbitant public chargers.
With our solution, residents no longer need to convert their front gardens into driveways, which can provide valuable urban spaces for wildlife, flood attenuation and relief from the urban heat island effect. They are encouraged to charge their EVs at night when the energy demand on the grid is lowest, instead of contributing to the peak time demand that requires firing up dirty gas power stations. They can also charge their EVs using the excess energy generated if they have solar panels, and in the future, they will be able to power their home with car batteries with bi-directional charging.
What operations have you accomplished so far?
Following successful installations at selected properties in 2023, we are launching a large-scale trial with more than 80 units across multiple local authorities in the UK. Being fully compliant with the British Standards thanks to our locking mechanism is proving to be immensely popular.
What are the major hurdles the company needs to clear at present to continue to grow and have best impact on the industry? How are you tackling these?
Local authorities look after the public pavement, so each one needs to implement a permitting process. The government announced in October 2023 that they would release guidance for local authorities on cross-pavement solutions based on trials from early adopter authorities, but the document is still yet to be published. It is really important that this document is released as we hear that many local authorities are waiting for it to start their own trials.
The other aspect we want to see is the abolition of the planning permission requirement to install the EV charger, which is currently required for all properties without a driveway. The reason for this requirement at the time was that the government did not want to authorise residents to install a home charger when their only way to charge was to trail the cable across the pavement. However, with cross-pavement solutions, this requirement has become redundant.
Finally, there needs to be a streamlined process for applying for street works permissions. The current system is based on Section 50 licences, which are typically used by companies for undertaking 100m of work in the road and don’t reflect the significantly smaller amount of work required with our channel.
The costs of these permissions impact the price that the resident needs to pay, which is not fair when someone with a driveway can install a charger without any of these charges. As an active member of the cross-pavement working group at the Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology, we are communicating and working with the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles and other government officials to resolve these challenges.
What would you like to see change in the EV sector in the coming years?
A £350 government grant is available for households with on-street parking, which will end in March 2025. We would like to see more grants like this in the future to support the transition to electric cars.
We would like to see the application for a cross-pavement solution being as easy as applying for a dropped kerb, without the cumbersome and expensive process some residents are experiencing currently.
In five years’ time, our goal is to be present all over the UK and have presence internationally. We are also looking to partner with energy companies, vehicle manufacturers and street works contractors to help get our solution to all residents without a driveway as fast as possible, and before the ban on the sale of internal combustion engine vehicles.
