UK-based electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure specialist Connected Kerb is to deliver on-street EV chargers for a ground-breaking pilot project in New York to demonstrate how public access to EV charging can drive up EV ownership amongst the 50% of residents who park their cars on-street.
This project is part of The DOT Studio – a collaboration between the New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) and cleantech incubator Newlab, focused on applying emerging technologies to advance planning, policy, operations, and real-time management of transportation across New York City in line with its Vision Zero and sustainability goals.
The findings from the pilot will inform wider EV charging rollouts across New York, helping to realize the city’s goal of installing 10,000 curbside chargers by 2030, and electrifying 20% of municipal parking bays by 2025.
Connected Kerb, which will receive funding to install its EV charging points, is currently exploring locations at the Brooklyn Navy Yard to deliver a ‘living lab’ to showcase how the chargers – which also support several IoT and telecommunication applications such as 5G antenna – can support the rollout of other cutting-edge public access technology in urban environments. Pilot planning and design is underway, with the goal of launching by fall 2022.
Steve Richardson and Nick Dobie, co-founders of Connected Kerb, said: “There are around two million light duty vehicles in New York City, accounting for 80% of transport emissions. New York City DOT has established ambitious goals to eliminate these emissions by boosting electric vehicle adoption, and The DOT Studio project will provide a crucial blueprint for how to deliver world-leading charging infrastructure to support that goal – supercharging EV uptake, cutting emissions and improving public health.”
Three charge point providers – Connected Kerb, Char.gy and Voltpost – are participating and collaborating in the project. Charge Infrastructure will be Connected Kerb’s preferred installation provider for this project.
“Enabling greater EV adoption is critical to achieving New York City’s net zero goals, and we are pleased to collaborate with NYC DOT and Connected Kerb through the DOT Studio to help realize the vision for a more sustainable, resilient, and equitable city,” added Shaina Horowitz, VP of Product and Programs at Newlab. “We expect the pilot to provide invaluable data on how to most effectively deploy EV charging infrastructure in densely populated areas and make scalable EV use possible, with potential implications for both NYC and cities around the world.”
In 2021, around 15,000 EVs were registered in New York City, with over 5,000 of these sold in 2020 alone. The Biden Administration is targeting 50% of all new vehicle sales to be electric across the US by 2030.
