LA Is Getting More of This Type of EV Charger

• EVSE and AmpUp collaborate on the installation of 150 EV chargers integrated into Los Angeles streetlight poles, offering charging for city residents who might not have other charging opportunities at home.

• The Level 2 chargers, which use 240-volt connections, are positioned above street level and lower a charging cord upon activation.

• Relatively few chargers of this type have been installed in US cities over the past decade, with Europe having made more progress when it comes to charging infrastructure for apartment dwellers.

If there is one type of EV charger that has made relatively few inroads in the US compared to other countries, it is the curbside kind. The past decade has seen a relatively limited number of experiments with this type of charger, given a few factors such as the reality that most EV owners live in suburbia, and if they do drive to some city center with plans to charge their car there, it's likely they'll be doing it at a DC fast-charger.

But the availability of curbside chargers is still seen as a major future prerequisite to wider EV adoption, as city dwellers who might not have a dedicated parking spot each night will still need to charge somewhere overnight.

Just what such a future might look like will become a little clearer as earlier this summer AmpUp and EVSE have embarked on the installation of some 150 Level 2 chargers integrated into Los Angeles streetlight poles.

Engineered by EVSE with software created by AmpUp, the chargers are designed to be integrated into existing street lighting infrastructure and installed 10 feet above street level, and feature a 25-foot cable that descends downward upon activation, and then retracts once charging is completed. The chargers rely on lighting poles' 240-volt connections, and do not require an app to activate, instead featuring a payment pad down below.

"Pole-mounted chargers make EV charging more accessible to a broader population, including those living in multi-unit dwellings or areas where traditional charging stations are scarce," said Dean Spacht, vice president of sales and marketing of EVSE.

One of the benefits, according to the two companies, includes an installation process that doesn't require digging, and results in costs that can be 70% lower than for standalone Level 2 chargers.

The high position of the chargers themselves avoids clutter at street level, and also lowers the chances of vandalism.

As the Los Angeles Bureau of Street Lighting (LABSL) controls over 220,000 lighting poles, there is clearly a lot of work to be done before the program reaches even the 10,000-charger goal as set by the mayor.

"While our patented retractable cable design addresses the city's urban safety and vandalism concerns, AmpUp's platform adds reliability and a crucial layer of grid intelligence," Spacht added. "Their demand response feature allows for managed loads during peak demand, supporting grid stability."

By now we've seen a number of curbside charger concepts of various designs, including ones built into the pavement, with their own set of benefits and downsides. But achieving significant scale in any one city has proven elusive, with most efforts remaining rather limited.

One common downside, of course, are charging speeds, with 240 volts being the equivalent of a washer or dryer outlet, which in theory isn't a significant limitation as most of the cars will be charging in the evening and at night and won't necessarily need to juice up their entire battery.

One other unexplored future reality is one in which tens of thousands of cars in LA are all using these chargers at the same time, mostly in the overnight hours, thus creating stress on the grid in addition to all the other garage-based chargers. The issue of power drain for street lights, on the other hand, is addressed by the increased use of LED bulbs, which require far less power than older bulbs.

Still, it's a little early to worry about stress on the grid, as pole-based chargers will need to grow in number before the topic of power generation becomes acute.

Will we see curbside chargers become more popular in the US in the coming years, or will the vast majority of EV buyers be those who have a garage with an adequate charger? Let us know what you think in the comments below.