A cross-pavement electric vehicle charging channel trial has gone live in Slough to make charging an electric vehicle at home significantly easier for residents with on-street parking.

Slough council has received £130,000 from the Department for Transport’s Electric Vehicle Pavement Channels Grant (EVPCG) to deliver the scheme to improve access to electric vehicle charging infrastructure at home.

The first installations, targeted at residents without driveways, have been made by Kerbo Charge, Slough Borough Council’s partner for this scheme.

The Kerbo Charge cross-pavement channel allows residents to install a cable gully into the pavement outside their home and easily charge on the street without causing hazards.

This is the only approved method for running a charging cable across a public footway and could save residents around £4,000 per year compared to using public charging.

There will initially be a one-year trial period, which will include 20 installations.

Residents who are accepted as part of the trial will be required to pay £399 towards the installation costs and arrange installation of their own wall-mounted EV charger. However, residents can also save a further £500 off the price of their charger thanks to a separate central government grant (Electric Vehicle Chargepoint Grant for Households with On-Street Parking).

The most suitable properties are those where drivers can usually park outside their home, and can access a ground-floor electricity supply.

Through this scheme, they plug into their home charger, feed the EV cable through the cross-pavement channel and plug into their vehicle on-street. The channel is flush to the pavement, to prevent trip hazards.

Councillor Nadeem Khawar, lead member for environment and public realm, said: “This is an exciting trial, and we are grateful to have received the funding to do it.

“Having no driveway will no longer be a barrier to home charging. The cross-pavement channel is unobtrusive to those using the pavement and creates easy access for home charging.

“We have a great network of electric vehicle infrastructure in Slough already, and home charging is becoming more popular. We hope the trial goes well and we can expand it further in time.”

Kerbo Charge co-founder Michael Goulden commented: “At its heart, this is about giving residents more choice in how they charge their electric vehicle and helping remove the barriers that can put people off making the switch.”

The environmental quality team at the council will monitor the success of the first 20 installations, before expanding the scheme more widely.

More details about the trial and details of how to apply are on Kerbo Charge’s website.

Once the initial 20 applications are accepted, other applications will be put onto a waiting list.