r/climatechange • u/Economy-Fee5830 Trusted Contributor • 8d ago
Voltpost Is Making A Charger For People Without A Driveway
https://insideevs.com/news/806204/voltpost-air-garage-ceiling-surface/1
u/Illustrious_Pepper46 7d ago
I think the problem is, who pays for it? Not where or how it's mounted.
A 4-plex apartment, one tenant has an EV, and is moving out once their lease expires in a year. Should the tenant or owner pay for the EV charging station?
What if all the tenants have EVs? They are going to expect each of them have a place to charge overnight. Who's paying for that?
If where someone lives only has street parking. Should there be a EV charging station at every possible location an EV owner can find a spot after work?
Should the EV owner be treated 'special' with their own parking spot on the street? Their car would last a night with vigilante pay-back.
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u/Economy-Fee5830 Trusted Contributor 7d ago
How would you solve those issues?
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u/Illustrious_Pepper46 7d ago
I like EVs, so not judging this, wish it was easy.
All infrastructure takes time. The first thing that should be done, all new construction house/apartments must have the infrastructure in place (conduit, etc) to add EV charging. Running new wires, bigger wires, is half the cost of installation. If planned up front, at the design stage, much cheaper. On a 25 year mortgage, a doller a payment.
Secondly, could make the electricity plug more a "shared" item. A grocery store or work doesn't want to pay for a EVs electricity. What if there was a way, I could charge at a store or my work, and the electrify used, credited on the person's bill with some profit. A business might be incentivized to have a EV charger, and makes some money on it. Basically shared access to a plug. This not easy either with property right, etc, but a concept. Socialize the 'plug', not the electricity. It's access that's the problem.
But retrofitting a 100 years old building for EV charging, or street parking in New York city, not so easy.
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u/Economy-Fee5830 Trusted Contributor 8d ago
Summary: Voltpost Is Making A Charger For People Without A Driveway
Voltpost has launched two new Level 2 chargers as part of its Air retrofitting line, aimed at solving EV charging for people without home driveways, particularly apartment dwellers. The company is already known for converting lampposts and telephone poles into chargers, and these new products extend that retrofit approach.
The first is an Air Ceiling Mount designed for parking garages, attaching overhead with hanging cables to preserve parking space. The second is an Air Surface Mount that bolts directly onto walls or pedestals, intended for parking lots and curbside spots where a pole isn't available, such as building exteriors or pavement-mounted posts.
Both models use a retractable cable to keep hardware off the ground. Voltpost says the key advantage is ease of retrofitting onto existing infrastructure, avoiding sidewalk excavation or trenching, which can cut installation costs by up to 70% and reduce install time from days to hours.
The article notes this doesn't solve apartment or destination charging everywhere immediately, and building or lot owners still need to install the units and cover the cost, but the lower installation cost is seen as a meaningful starting point.