If you’ve ever looked at an electric vehicle and thought, “Love the quiet, hate the idea of dragging an extension cord across the sidewalk,” you’re not alone.
For millions of people who park on the street, the biggest barrier to buying an EV isn’t the car itselfit’s the outlet. Where, exactly, are you supposed to plug in?
That’s where street-level EV charging comes in. Think lampposts that secretly double as chargers, curbside bollards tucked between parking spaces, and smart
Level 2 chargers mounted on ordinary streetlights. These solutions aim to make EV ownership possible for renters, apartment dwellers, and anyone whose car lives
at the curb instead of in a garage.
Around the world, public charging has exploded, with the number of public chargers roughly doubling since 2022 to more than 5 million. Yet experts still stress
that accessible public charging is essential if EVs are going to move from early adopters with garages to the broader population without off-street parking.
Street-level charging is a key piece of that puzzle.
Why Curbside Charging Matters for EV Adoption
Today, most EV owners still charge at home. That’s greatif you have a driveway, carport, or garage and can install a Level 2 charger. For renters, people in
older neighborhoods, and drivers in dense cities, that’s often not an option. Public fast chargers along highways are useful for road trips, but they don’t
solve the “Where do I charge every day?” question.
Research on public charging access shows just how uneven the landscape is. One recent analysis found that in many parts of the United States, 60%–80% of census
tracts lack any public EV charging at all, particularly away from major highway corridors. Add on top of that the gap in access between
homeowners and renters and between higher- and lower-income neighborhoods, and you get a serious equity problem in EV infrastructure.
Street-level EV charging steps directly into that gap. By placing Level 2 chargers right on the street, near existing parking, cities can:
- Give renters and apartment dwellers a practical way to charge overnight.
- Reduce “charging anxiety” by making infrastructure visible where people already park.
- Use existing power and street furniture instead of carving out new land or big parking lots.
In short, curbside charging makes EV ownership feel possible for people who can’t just bolt a charger to a garage walland that can nudge a lot of “maybe someday”
shoppers into “okay, I’m ready” territory.
What Counts as Street-Level Charging?
“Street-level EV charging” is a broad umbrella. It doesn’t just mean big public charging plazas. It often looks surprisingly low-keyon purpose.
Streetlight and Lamppost Chargers
One of the smartest ideas is also one of the simplest: turn streetlights into EV chargers. Cities are already wired to bring power to thousands of poles along
curbs. Retrofitting those poles with compact Level 2 charging hardware lets drivers plug in while they’re parked overnight, without taking up extra space.
Los Angeles, for example, has been expanding a program that mounts Level 2 chargers directly on existing streetlight poles, designed to be cost-effective while
supporting the city’s goals for EV adoption. Other cities are testing similar approaches, often focusing on neighborhoods
where people park on the street and don’t have home-charging options.
Private companies are involved here too. Voltpost, a U.S.-based lamppost charging platform, installs modular Level 2 chargers on metal poles at the curb, with
hardware designed for quick installation and upgrades. In some pilots, new designs even mount the hardware high up the pole, with a
cable that drops down when activatedreducing clutter and trip hazards on the sidewalk.
Curbside Bollards and Pedestals
Not every street has easily retrofittable streetlights. In those cases, cities use curbside bollards or slender pedestals planted at the edge of the sidewalk.
These often look like short posts with a charging port and sometimes a small screen or QR code for payment.
These on-street residential charge points (often called ORCs) can be clustered in residential neighborhoods, essentially turning a row of parallel parking into
a slow-motion charging hub. Common options include lamppost chargers, bollards, and stand-alone curbside units, all designed to coexist with trash pickup,
street sweeping, and regular parking.
Utility-Led Curbside Pilots
Utilities and local agencies across the U.S. are experimenting with curbside EV charging pilots to figure out what actually works in the real world.
-
Seattle City Light is installing Level 2 curbside chargers where residents requested them, charging a per-kilowatt-hour fee. As of 2025,
the utility’s price is around $0.21 per kWh, with each kWh giving roughly 3–4 miles of range depending on the vehicle. -
Kansas City’s Streetlight Charging in the Right-of-Way pilot has installed more than 20 EV chargers using existing streetlights to expand
charging access for renters and residents of multi-family housing who park on the street. -
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Vehicle Technologies Office has funded multiple curbside and streetlight charging projects and captured lessons learned on
siting, permitting, and community engagement.
Taken together, these pilots are building the playbook for how to roll out street-level EV charging at scale.
How Street-Level Charging Gets Skeptical Drivers off the Fence
Solving the “I Can’t Charge at Home” Problem
Surveys consistently show that the availability of home or workplace charging is one of the biggest predictors of whether someone buys an EV. At the same time,
federal and state incentives are making EVs more affordablebut if you live in an apartment and park on the street, a tax credit doesn’t magically create a socket.
Public charging, including curbside Level 2 options, can fill that gap. The U.S. Department of Energy notes that while home charging remains the dominant method,
public and workplace chargers greatly increase the usable daily range of EVs and reduce gasoline use for plug-in hybrids. When those public
chargers are within a short walk from home, they effectively function as “shared home chargers” for people who can’t install their own.
Making EV Ownership Feel as Simple as Owning a Smartphone
One appealing thing about street-level EV charging is that it fits into existing habits. You already park your car on the street and leave it there overnight. With
curbside Level 2 charging, you just plug in before heading inside. The car charges slowly but steadily, and by morning you’re topped up.
Instead of planning a weekly pilgrimage to a fast-charging station, your EV quietly refuels while you sleep, just like your phone. That “set it and forget it”
experience is a big part of making EVs feel not just possible, but easy.
Boosting Confidence with Visible Infrastructure
There’s also a psychological effect: seeing chargers in your neighborhood sends a signal that EVs are normal. As states like California add tens of thousands of
public and shared private chargers in a matter of months, it becomes easier for shoppers to picture themselves driving electric without having
to reorganize their lives around charging.
When the charger is literally right under your streetlight, the calculation changes from “I’d love an EV, but where would I charge it?” to “If I bought an EV, I’d
just park on my usual block and plug in.”
The Nuts and Bolts: Power, Speed, and Cost
Level 2 vs. DC Fast Charging
Most street-level charging revolves around AC Level 2 chargers, which typically deliver 6–19 kW of power depending on the hardware and circuit. Level 2 won’t fill
a large battery in 15 minutes, but over the course of several hours it’s more than enough to cover daily driving for most people.
By contrast, DC fast chargers (DCFC) are fantastic for long-distance travel but expensive to install and operate. Studies of equitable charging infrastructure
planning show that DC fast chargers can account for about two-thirds of infrastructure costs while representing only a small fraction of total charger units.
That’s one reason many cities treat street-level chargers as an affordable backbone for everyday use, with DC fast charging reserved for highways and major hubs.
What You’ll Pay to Plug in at the Curb
Costs vary, but curbside Level 2 charging often sits between cheap home charging and premium highway fast charging. Utilities like Seattle City Light currently
charge around $0.21 per kWh at their curbside Level 2 stations. At that rate, adding about 30 kWhroughly enough for 90–120 miles in many
EVsmight cost six or seven dollars.
That’s more than plugging in at home in a low-cost electricity market, but often less than what you’d pay at commercial DC fast chargers, which can include
significant markups over residential energy rates. Still, for many city drivers, the real value is convenience: paying a bit more to charge overnight steps from
home is often worth it compared to hunting down a fast charger every few days.
Challenges: Reliability, Equity, and Sidewalk Space
Keeping Chargers Working
There’s no sugarcoating it: charger reliability is a real concern. Some curbside charging pilots have reported outages, communication glitches, or payment problems,
and a number of cities are working with vendors to tighten service-level agreements and improve maintenance.
Recent reporting on curbside pilots featuring lamppost-mounted chargers, including newer designs like Voltpost Air in Brooklyn, has highlighted the opportunity
but also the need for better uptime and consistent user experience. If drivers arrive to find broken chargers, they quickly lose confidence in
the whole system.
Earlier analyses of public Level 2 charging utilization in the U.S. found that many stations were lightly usedsometimes just a couple of sessions per week.
As more EVs hit the road and more people rely on street-level charging, utilization is expected to rise, making it easier to justify the cost of maintenance and
upgrades. But reliability has to improve in step.
Designing for All Neighborhoods, Not Just the Trendy Ones
Another challenge is making sure curbside chargers don’t just cluster in affluent, early-adopter neighborhoods. Equity-focused research on public charging points
out that lower-income areas need a significant share of chargerson the order of 30% of the total in some scenariosif EV benefits are going to be shared fairly.
Yet today, public charging tends to be concentrated in a relatively small set of urban districts and highway corridors, while many rural and lower-income communities
remain underserved. Curbside infrastructure gives cities a flexible way to correct that imbalance, but only if they deliberately prioritize
under-resourced neighborhoods instead of simply following market demand.
A Tangle of Cables and Curb Rights
Finally, there’s the simple matter of curb space and sidewalk safety. Cities have to coordinate street-level chargers with street sweeping, snow removal, bike lanes,
loading zones, and accessibility requirements. Poorly placed chargers or messy cable management can create trip hazards, block wheelchair users, or interfere with
deliveries.
That’s why many newer designs keep hardware compact, mount cables higher up, or use retractable systems to keep sidewalks clear. Local permitting rules, building codes,
and accessibility standards are evolving to catch up with the reality that the curb now has to serve drivers, walkers, cyclists, and EV cables all at once.
What Cities and Utilities Are Learning So Far
Curbside projects funded or tracked by the U.S. Department of Energy and local partners have surfaced some consistent lessons:
- Community engagement is critical. Projects are more successful when residents can request chargers for specific blocks and help choose locations.
-
Start with pilots, then scale. Smaller pilot deployments help agencies figure out installation details, grid impacts, and pricing before
rolling out larger networks. - Use existing infrastructure when possible. Retrofitting streetlights and existing circuits can keep costs down and speed up installation.
- Plan for operations, not just installation. Clear responsibilities for maintenance, upgrades, and data collection matter as much as the initial build.
As more cities follow early adopters like Los Angeles, Seattle, and Kansas City, those lessons will shape how quickly street-level EV charging becomes a familiar
part of the urban landscape.
How to Take Advantage of Street-Level Charging Where You Live
1. Find Existing Chargers
The first step is simple: check what’s already in place. Public charging apps and in-car navigation systems can show Level 2 and DC fast chargers near your home or
workplace. Filter for lower-power Level 2 stations and look for ones on residential streets or near multi-family housing.
If your city has its own curbside charging program, you’ll often find a dedicated web page with maps, pricing, and instructions on how to use or reserve stations.
2. Ask for More: Become a “Charging Advocate”
Many cities now let residents request new curbside chargers. Los Angeles, for example, allows people to submit requests for new streetlight-mounted EV chargers in
their neighborhoods. If you’re thinking about going electricor already own an EVconsider filing a request and getting neighbors on board.
The more local demand city planners see on a specific block, the easier it is for them to justify adding street-level EV charging there.
3. Stack the Financial Incentives
While charging access is crucial, don’t forget the money side of the EV equation. Federal policies such as the Inflation Reduction Act can offer substantial tax
credits for qualifying new and used EVs, and many states layer on additional rebates or grants.
When you combine:
- Street-level EV charging that fits how you already park, and
- Financial incentives that reduce the upfront price of the car,
the switch to electric starts to look less like a lifestyle overhaul and more like a smart upgrade.
What It’s Actually Like to Rely on Street-Level Charging
It’s one thing to talk about curbside charging in theory. It’s another to imagine what it looks like in real life. So let’s walk through a few everyday scenarios
that show how street-level EV charging could work for you.
Imagine a renter named Maya who lives on the second floor of a brick walk-up in a busy neighborhood. She doesn’t have a driveway, but she does have a favorite
parking spot under a streetlight on her block. A year ago, that streetlight was just… a streetlight. Now it’s a Level 2 lamppost charger.
For Maya, the weekly routine is straightforward. She plugs in on Sunday night after grocery shopping, taps her card or scans the QR code, and heads upstairs. By
Monday morning, her compact EV is back at 80%–90% charge. If she forgets to plug in one night, it’s not a crisis; she can grab a spot and top up later in the week.
There are occasional hiccups. Once, she arrived to find the charger offline, so she had to use a nearby fast charger at a higher price. Another time, someone
parked in the bay without plugging in. But overall, her experience feels a lot like owning a gas caronly the “refueling” happens overnight, quietly, while she
watches TV.
Now picture an older residential street where most homes don’t have garages at all, just short front yards and long rows of parked cars. On this block, three new
curbside bollard chargers were installed as part of a pilot program. At first, neighbors were skeptical: Would the chargers take away parking? Would they clutter
the sidewalk?
After a few months, the chargers start to feel like just another piece of street hardware, like a fire hydrant or bike rack. Two neighbors buy EVs; one uses a
shared family car, the other commutes daily. They coordinate loosely via text“I’m plugging in tonight, you take tomorrow”but there’s enough flexibility that
it rarely becomes a turf war. When more neighbors express interest, the city considers adding more chargers on the next block over.
Street-level EV charging also changes what road trips look like. If you rely on curbside Level 2 at home, you may still use DC fast chargers on the highway for
longer drives. But because your car leaves home fully charged most days, you’re not starting road trips on empty. That reduces the stress of planning where to stop
and how long you’ll need to charge.
Winter and summer bring their own quirks. In colder climates, leaving the car plugged into a curbside charger overnight can help offset the extra energy your EV
uses to heat the cabin and battery. In hot weather, slow overnight charging takes advantage of cooler air temperatures and, in some areas, cheaper off-peak
electricity ratesif the utility offers time-of-use pricing at these public chargers.
None of this is perfect yet. You may still encounter broken chargers, confusing phone apps, or pricing that makes you sigh. But as more cities refine their curbside
programs, and as more people like Maya show that it’s entirely possible to own an EV without a driveway, the “I can’t charge at home” objection starts to weaken.
The big idea is simple: if you can reliably plug in within a short walk of your front door, EV ownership no longer feels like a leap of faith. Street-level charging
options take the most intimidating part of going electricchargingand quietly fold it into your normal daily routine.
Conclusion: The Street Might Be Your Next “Garage”
Street-level EV charging won’t replace every other type of infrastructure. We’ll still need workplace chargers, highway fast-charging networks, and home chargers
wherever possible. But if cities want more peopleespecially renters and urban driversto make the switch, curbside Level 2 chargers, lamppost chargers, and
smart streetlight retrofits are some of the most powerful tools available.
By using the streets we already have and the poles already wired for power, communities can turn the curb into a shared charging resource. Done right, that makes
EVs more accessible, more equitable, and frankly, more convenient.
So the next time you walk past a streetlight, imagine it with a discreet charging portand imagine your future EV parked underneath it. Your “garage” might end up
being the same place your car has always lived: right out on the street.
