Installing Curbside Charging Station

Douglas Firs

Douglas Firs

Member
I know we are not the only people to have this predicament, but it's surprisingly tough to find people's real world experiences:

We bought a house with no garage and no driveway and no ability to put either of those in. We want to install a curbside charging station, but it would have to go on the public right of way, i.e. grass between the sidewalk and the road. We are moving to Portland, which is apparently a very progressive city for promoting EV use, but they currently do not have written guidelines on permitting for this type of project. I've spoken with two electricians (waiting to hear back from two more), but they said they hadn't done this kind of project before and couldn't offer guidance. We've put in two calls to the city, but we don't expect to hear back from them soon, given the world we live in.

Has anyone out there been successful in doing this? What was the process like with your city? How long did it take? Did you face any significant set backs?

Also: what charging station did you use? Did you have a pedestal? We were salivating over this retractable station developed by a company in Britain, but alas it's in pilot stage. https://chargedevs.com/newswire/urb...-trial-of-on-street-pop-up-charging-stations/
 
Don't know what brand but CT sponsored a bunch of retractable ones (single plug) so there are some out there.

Usually ROW can't be "developed" I thought? I wouldn't spend any more until the city confirms. Not sure what other options you may have for parking close by?
 
JFon101231 said:
Don't know what brand but CT sponsored a bunch of retractable ones (single plug) so there are some out there.

Usually ROW can't be "developed" I thought? I wouldn't spend any more until the city confirms. Not sure what other options you may have for parking close by?
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Good to know, thanks. We have not purchased anything yet - will take recommendations from the installer when/if the time comes.
 
JFon101231 said:
Don't know what brand but CT sponsored a bunch of retractable ones (single plug) so there are some out there.

Usually ROW can't be "developed" I thought? I wouldn't spend any more until the city confirms. Not sure what other options you may have for parking close by?
Click to expand...
PS, this is the only public statement about Portland allowing EV charging stations on ROW. This is why we called them, but have not heard back.

"C.22 - Electrical Vehicle Charging Stations. Privately owned and maintained electrical vehicle charging stations may be allowed in the public right-of-way through a separate policy, currently under development. Contact the Portland Bureau of Transportation (503)-823-7002 or www.portlandoregon.gov/transportation) for most current information."

https://www.portlandoregon.gov/transportation/article/409066
 
Having served on the Environmental Commission of my township, I know that unless there is policy in place now for guidance, it will help your cause to be as specific as possible about your plans. Decide on a pedestal, charging station, dimensions, wiring, location, conduit, distance to curb/street/house/sidewalk, access to power in your house, safety precautions, etc. A fully developed plan will be more useful to the city than simply "curbside charging station". Make it as easy as possible for them to visualize and approve.
 
Sandroad said:
Having served on the Environmental Commission of my township, I know that unless there is policy in place now for guidance, it will help your cause to be as specific as possible about your plans. Decide on a pedestal, charging station, dimensions, wiring, location, conduit, distance to curb/street/house/sidewalk, access to power in your house, safety precautions, etc. A fully developed plan will be more useful to the city than simply "curbside charging station". Make it as easy as possible for them to visualize and approve.
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That is very helpful, thank you!


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***UPDATE***

The city got back to us! We first need to obtain an electrical permit and a minor improvement permit required for the electrical work and to bore a hole to run the line underground, and then we apply for an encroachment permit, which is the one that deals with having the charging station on public property. The encroachment permit requires a site plan. They told us that it may have to go through a "public works alternative design review" and may need a city traffic engineer to look at it, but sounds like the whole process could only take a few weeks, soup to nuts.

They also said that the space in front of the charger has to be open to the public, but we already suspected that was the case. We live in a very quiet neighborhood with non-douchey homeowners, so we don't anticipate that this will be a problem.

I'll update this thread when we are done so others can see how it all shook out.
 
Will you turn the EVSE on and off from your house or will it always be powered (which would raise other questions)?
 
insightman said:
Will you turn the EVSE on and off from your house or will it always be powered (which would raise other questions)?
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We haven’t gotten that far. Something that we’d want the electrician to advise on when the time comes


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On the other hand, you might consider going with a Chargepoint (commercial) model that you can then control through their network and list it as public and available to use (for a fee) during certain hours, but allow yourself to charge freely at any time.
 
Correct. My work allows people on a private list to charge for free via charge point app/card. To everyone else its free after hours but something crazy like $60/hr from 8a-6p I think
 
Since this is your only parking (with no garage or driveway), it seems to me a VERY easy decision to make the station completely private and turn it on/off from inside the house. In fact, you want a "stealth station", well disguised!
 
I looked at a Chargepoint commercial EV charger (if you are considering, or are required to, have it available to the public) and the software and cellular service, IMO, was fairly expensive. I decide to go with the Juicebox pro32c, with pedestal, because the cellular service (because Wifi wasn't available) was less expensive.

@Douglas Firs, You might want to see if your Wifi reaches out to the R.O.W. and if it does just go with a residential charger for only your use. Verify, with the city, if a charging station in the R.O.W. is only meant for stations available to the public or not. Also, directional boring can be very expensive, see if they will allow trenching and conduit.
Does your house's electrical service have enough capacity for another 40A circuit? Try to get all permits before you spend any money on anything else.
Get ready to spend lots of $'s.



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EVDuty has interesting products - look for smart Pro version : https://evduty.elmec.ca
They also have single or dual stands. You can manage access remotely, via Wifi, and get paid when people use it. Not that expensive.


Envoyé de mon iPhone en utilisant Inside EVs
 
Richard_arch74 said:
I looked at a Chargepoint commercial EV charger (if you are considering, or are required to, have it available to the public) and the software and cellular service, IMO, was fairly expensive. I decide to go with the Juicebox pro32c, with pedestal, because the cellular service (because Wifi wasn't available) was less expensive.

@Douglas Firs, You might want to see if your Wifi reaches out to the R.O.W. and if it does just go with a residential charger for only your use. Verify, with the city, if a charging station in the R.O.W. is only meant for stations available to the public or not. Also, directional boring can be very expensive, see if they will allow trenching and conduit.
Does your house's electrical service have enough capacity for another 40A circuit? Try to get all permits before you spend any money on anything else.
Get ready to spend lots of $'s.



Sent from my SM-G955U using Inside EVs mobile app
Click to expand...

The city does not require the charger to be publicly available, so that is a non-issue. We already got one bid from an electrician and the boring will probably cost a couple thousand dollars. Our panel is capable of adding a 40 amp circuit. Per the city, we have to obtain the electrical and minor improvement permits before we can submit the encroachment application.

And yes...we are going to pay a pretty penny for this, but we are prepared!
 
Just out of curiosity (given that you are spending 1,000s of $s), why is there "no ability to put either of those in". If there was, even an expensive way, it might be beneficial to bite the bullet and get a curb cut done.

Oh, SF....
 
JustAnotherPoorDriver said:
Just out of curiosity (given that you are spending 1,000s of $s), why is there "no ability to put either of those in". If there was, even an expensive way, it might be beneficial to bite the bullet and get a curb cut done.

Oh, SF....
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We’re actually moving to Portland, but generally I understand “oh SF.” Which is why we are leaving :)

Our house is up a very steep hill from the road. We’d have to excavate a huge hole in the hill even for a curb cut, and I imagine the permitting for that will be even more of a nightmare because of landslide risks. Even so, we would still have to do the same boring and electrical work, so the only value add to doing it would be to have a guaranteed parking spot. And that is really not an issue at present because we live on a quiet street. So, is it possible? Maybe. Is it worth it? I don’t think so. Time/cost/permitting headaches plus being an eyesore on the property...no bueno for us
 
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