Following news that Slough Borough Council has launched a trial of cross-pavement EV charging channels in collaboration with Kerbo Charge, allowing residents without a driveway to run a charging cable safely across the pavement to a car parked on the street,Tom Preston, CEO of Hippo Leasing, has laid out what it could mean for EV uptake in the area and beyond.

Tom Preston, Chief Executive Officer at Hippo Leasing, comments:

“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. 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.

“If Slough’s cross-pavement channels prove reliable over the trial’s first year, it could be one of the changes that actually shifts who an EV lease makes sense for. 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. 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.”

(Picture: Kerbo Charge)