One of the biggest obstacles currently facing the rollout of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure is ensuring that chargers are readily available for the surging demand for clean mobility.
Currently, those with driveways and access to home chargers tend to benefit from cheaper rates as opposed to those who must charge at public chargers. This has called into question the application of a ‘just transition’ in the UK with this explored in a Current± article you can read here.
But with this challenge comes an opportunity for innovators. One such organisation is Kerbo Charge, a company which was founded in 2021 on the basis of a “shared frustration of how difficult it is to charge your car at home, in a crowded metro like London”, its website reads.
To tackle this issue, the company introduced a system that is installed on tarmac or stone pavements directly outside a customer’s home. This creates a narrow channel with a hinged lid in which users can easily place a charging cable, running it to their car.
Current± spoke with Michael Goulden, co-founder of Kerbo Charge on how the company’s technology could bolster on-street charging and support those without access to traditional home chargers.
Could you provide me with a bit of a background on Kerbo Charge and how it fits into the UK EV space?
We all know that in 2035, the government is banning the sale of petrol and diesel cars. But 40% of the UK population has a problem. They don’t have a driveway and they can’t easily charge from home. If you’re one of these people who can’t charge from home, then you either need to trail a cable over the pavement or use a public chargepoint.
We don’t recommend trailing cables over pavements, and public chargepoints are inconvenient and expensive. They cost around five times more than charging from home and in many cases are more expensive than petrol.
There’s a big deterrent for people to buying an EV if they don’t have a driveway, and that is something that really needs to be addressed. That’s what we’re focused on. Our products have three main features; a self-closing lid, it bends with a pavement surface and is only 30 millimetres deep so it’s very easy to install.
Your technology could go a long way in supporting a ‘just transition’ on the UK’s roads. Is this becoming more of an issue in the current market? What could be done to prevent this?
Is this becoming more of an issue? Yes, it is. Trojan Energy published some data, where they surveyed 4,000 or 5,000 drivers, and it said that 40% would get an EV if they could charge at home and didn’t need to rely exclusively on public chargepoints.
You’ve got this situation where there are 8 million terraced houses in the UK and 40%, which is 3.2 million, are already potentially ready to buy an EV right now, reduce air pollution and decarbonise. But they won’t until they can safely charge from home. That is something that is a real shame and needs to be addressed. That’s what we are working to do to make it safe to charge from home for everybody.
How do you address safety concerns with your technology? Is it easy to use/accessible and is theft an issue?
Our product’s BS tested to EN 1433 and that’s the same standard for any galley product that goes into the pavement, and we passed the 15 kilonewton test. It’s also UK CA and CE approved. It’s very easy to use. To remove just pull the cable out along the length of the channel and to insert, you lift at one end and then insert a handful at a time and in it goes.
We are working on a tool that means that people who are mobility impaired can use the product and theft is not an issue. The cable is locked into the car during charging and then you put your cable away after use.
What agreements/partnerships have been secured already to help the business expand into the growing market?
Our partnerships are mainly focused on local authorities and then also other partners such as energy suppliers and charging manufacturers. We have three live trials with local authorities in Milton Keynes, Durham and Reading. We have a number of others – 10 more that are confirmed.
I can’t mention all of them yet, but they include central Bedfordshire, Bath and North East Somerset, and West Berkshire. We’ll be able to announce many more soon. We are working on partnerships with charging manufacturers and energy suppliers, and we’ll definitely want to make an announcement on that soon.
What do you hope to achieve in the coming years as a business? What goals do you have?
We want to take a 75% market share of the cable channel market by 2026 and be operating in at least five other countries by that time. We certainly want to become a UK export success story.