These pole-mounted EV chargers let down their joules

Image: Only In Boston

We rely on electric utility poles to power our homes, take nails for our yard sale, and shine light for our streets at night. Helping EV owners juice up their cars is their greatest contribution thus far. In Melrose, Massachusetts, the local utility, National Grid, helped install a few pole-mounted EV charging stations.

EV owners who don't have access to a garage or private parking space with dedicated charging can now get it thanks to the work of the utility company and the city of Melrose. The company says that the charging stations reduce installation costs by 70%.

Melrose is the first city in the East Coast to have pole-mounted electric vehicle chargers, mounted at 10 feet in convenient locations throughout the community. pic.twitter.com/nkrjr7on0p

— Only In Boston (@OnlyInBOS) August 8, 2022

The lack of a reliable charging infrastructure is one of the main reasons why the public is hesitant to buy an EV. Not everyone has a private driveway and being able to charge at home is the most important benefit.

They are cheaper to install and aren't in anyone's way. They don't need to jump through a lot of red tape for ground space and wiring, and don't require dedicated parking spots that could just get ICE'd anyway. You can parallel park, follow the same parking rules as everyone else, and charge from a power source that's already existed.

One of the pole-mounted charging locations is on Berwick Street, which is adjacent to a residential neighborhood where visitors would most likely park to visit someone or walk to the town center. The cable does not get in the way of pedestrians or the bike lane that is next to it.

Plug and Play EV showed how the system works. It will be able to grab. The lock/unlock button can be held on the plug. You can let the electrons flow once it is close to your car. All you have to pay for is the electricity, which is currently rated at 0.25 per kWh according to the Plugshare app.

The stations charge at up to 9.6 kilowatts, enough to boost the Model 3 by 100 miles. It's more than enough juice for regular fill-ups and it's about the average expected speed of the charging stations.

There are more than 50,000 charging stations in the US, but close to 100,000 of them are Level 2, which is less than the number of gas stations in the US. Los Angeles has more streetlight and utility pole charging stations than any other city on the west coast.

In Massachusetts, National Grid is promoting an EV charging station program that helps businesses and municipalities install EV charging infrastructure like the pole-mounted ones, and is supported by the state's own goals to reach net zero carbon emissions by century's end.

Massachusetts is working to pass a comprehensive climate bill that increases purchase rebates to $3,500 for both new and used electric vehicles costing $55,000 or less, and another $1,000 if trading in a gas vehicle. The governor is concerned about the requirement to ban new sales of ICE vehicles by the year 2035.

Image: Umar Shakir / The Verge

Image: Umar Shakir / The Verge

The next step for other cities is to test out the pole-mounted charging stations and see if they work. The study points out that cities need to plan and collect data to see if they can succeed. If they aren't working out on a single pole, it's easy to move the charge to another pole.

Clean transportation options like bike lanes and mass transit can help reduce air pollution. NIMBYism, real estate turf battles, and questions about prioritization of car ownership are some of the deployment challenges that the pole-mounted charging station could face.

Some urbanists think that the existing street parking space will be taken away from pedestrians and cyclists. It all adds up to the challenge of charging an EV in the city and hopefully pole-mounted chargers will help make EV more viable for those that still need cars.