Slough Borough Council has launched a trial allowing households without driveways to use cross-pavement electric vehicle (EV) charging channels, enabling residents to run charging cables safely across pavements to cars parked on the street.
Trial aims to remove barrier to EV adoption
The initiative is designed to give more EV owners access to street charging points and remove a potential barrier preventing people from switching to electric vehicles. Around a third of UK households do not have a driveway, which has blocked access to home charging for many.
Tom Preston, CEO at Hippo Leasing, said: "This trial tackles one of the real reasons EV leasing hasn't worked for everyone. Around a third of UK households don't have a driveway, so home charging has effectively only been available to people with off-street parking."
How the cross-pavement channels work
The cross-pavement charging channels allow residents to safely run a charging cable across the pavement to a car parked on the street. The use of these channels is expected to be rolled out more widely in future years, with other councils likely watching the trial to see how it works.
Preston added: "Everyone else has had to rely on the public network, which may cost more and isn't always nearby, and that's put plenty of people off going electric, even when a lease would otherwise suit them."
Potential impact on EV leasing and adoption
If Slough's cross-pavement channels prove reliable over the trial's first year, it could shift who an EV lease makes sense for. Preston noted: "While this won't solve wider public infrastructure overnight, and drivers must remember a channel doesn't grant a reserved parking space outside their home or eliminate initial installation costs, Slough's 20-channel pilot is a huge step in the right direction."
He continued: "If local councils roll this out widely, it may remove a huge barrier for millions of drivers, making cheaper domestic overnight energy tariffs a reality. As a leasing provider, that's definitely worth watching closely. Every barrier like this that gets removed brings EV leasing within reach for more households, not just the ones with a drive to park on."
