- Voltpost’s clever lamppost EV chargers are going from local experiment to national coverage.
- The startup will boost deployments thanks to a new partnership with InCharge Energy.
- The lamppost-mounted EV chargers will start appearing on utility poles in New York, Connecticut, and California first.
Curbside EV charging in the United States is about to get a little better, thanks to a new partnership between Voltpost and InCharge Energy. Voltpost makes Level 2 EV chargers that can be installed directly on public lighting poles, while InCharge Energy is a national provider of EV charging installation and maintenance services.
Until now, Voltpost’s EV chargers have been more of an experiment, but by tapping into InCharge Energy’s expertise and certified field teams, the American startup is aiming to blanket the country with curbside chargers, starting in New York, Connecticut, and California.
Voltpost Air lamppost charger
Photo by: Voltpost
The idea behind Voltpost’s chargers is simple: they make use of an electrical infrastructure that’s already there, which lowers installation costs. What’s more, public lighting poles are usually next to the road or in parking lots, so they make the perfect support for an EV charger.
On the other hand, because the electrical connection wasn’t sized for huge loads, the charging speeds are quite slow. But that’s fine for places where EV drivers spend a couple of hours away from their cars, like at the mall.
Voltpost’s EV chargers are permanently connected to the internet thanks to an AT&T cellular connection. Meanwhile, InCharge’s InControl charge management software runs in the background, allowing Voltpost to monitor its charging network in real time and dispatch teams for repair as quickly as possible to maximize uptime.
“Partnering with InCharge Energy provides the maintenance operational foundation to scale our mission of bringing affordable, convenient EV charging to communities of all sizes across the country,” said Jeffrey Prosserman, Voltpost’s Co-Founder and CEO. “Their end-to-end capabilities, including charger installation and servicing, all backed by InControl™ software, enable our team to deploy faster and more reliably, putting EV charging within reach of more neighborhoods, cities, and drivers nationwide.”
Voltpost offers two EV chargers. The first model, known simply as the Voltpost, wraps around a public lighting pole, offering one or two individual charging connectors on 25-foot retractable cables.
Voltpost’s lamppost Level 2 EV charger
Photo by: Voltpost
The second model, the Air, is significantly smaller. It can deliver up to 9.6 kilowatts of power to each connected EV, with up to two dispensers bundled on a single pole. They’re mounted at roughly 10 feet (3 meters) above the ground to protect against vandalism and bad weather, and feature retractable cables.
Voltpost’s smartphone app is the only way EV drivers can find these chargers and pay for the charging sessions.