Street accessible charger at home

Hi, nice forum! I just found it while searching for an answer to this question. No luck yet so here goes.

My house is in an urban Seattle neighborhood and I have no garage or driveway. I park on the street. I don't think regularly running an extension cord across the sidewalk is a viable option; ideally I guess there would be some underground wiring from the house out to the parking strip (grassy area between the sidewalk and the curb), and the charger accessible from under a cover flush with the ground, like a water meter. Is anyone else doing this?

Also, what security measures are in place to keep the local ruffians and scalawags from messing with the setup while it's charging? Does the cord lock into the car's charging port?

Unless you get the city to grant you your own street parking spot, I don't see how this could work.

I highly doubt there are any EVSEs approved for underground environments, you'd need some sort of stanchion. Not to mention you probably don't own the land near the curb so you wouldn't be able to install anything there.

There are no locks as far as I know on level 2 charging.

It does appear there is some sort of lock on the fast charge connector as the manual says you have to stop charging before you will be able to remove the connector. But even still it's just a matter of pressing a button on the charge station. It's not there for security but more likely there so you don't disconnect the connector while high current is flowing.

If you can park within 25 feet of the location where you mount the EVSE on your house/apartment then the only real issue is making sure people don't trip over the cord (besides the security one).

One thing to look at is to see if you could find a rubber block/ramp type thingie. I often see these at trade shows where they run the power cords under it and then are able to drive carts and things over the block without crushing the cable. I'm sure there's a name for it and a place to buy that has a variety of them - maybe someone else knows the actual name for the thing. At least with that in place, you wouldn't have a tripping hazard over the sidewalk.

You will need a commercial style evse mounted on some sort of post along with running power under the sidewalk.
AFAIK any passer by could disconnect the charge cable. Although I think LEAF could send an email ot text to let you know.
Good luck.

The LEAF accessories in Japan show a lock for the "nozzle", not [yet] offered here.

Even if the cable was locked to the car, the STOP button on the "typical" EVSE could be pressed to interrupt charging.

So, perhaps the EVSE and e-hose would need to be installed in a lockable box/cabinet, with the [EVSE and] nozzle at least 24" above ground level.

Power/cable from the house to the car would need to go under [the top surface of] the sidewalk, with no bump or grove to trip on.

The box with the EVSE might be mounted on the house, the e-hose go "under" the sidewalk and up a "post" to a much smaller, lockable nozzle-storage box.

Not an easy solution.

Probably need to get a city inspector/planner involved to look over the situation and help you decide what, if anything, that whey would approve. Beyond logic and engineering, public safety and city liability are the two main issues here.

overhead charging example.
Also, the level 1 charger that comes in the trunk does have a locking hole. It looks like, once you have it plugged into the car, you can place a small lock through the button that releases the plug from the car.

While it would be hard to arrange this at your apartment, it might be better than an extension cable lying on the sidewalk.

An arm mounted on (hinged to) the house, high up, that would swing out over the sidewalk while the e-hose (hanging down from the end of the arm) is being used?

How often does somebody else park there?

jkyu99 said:

Also, the level 1 charger that comes in the trunk does have a locking hole. It looks like, once you have it plugged into the car, you can place a small lock through the button that releases the plug from the car.

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Yes, now that we have access to the owner's manual we can confirm this. (Page CH-13)

9. When recharging outside such as in your drive way, use a commercially available padlock attached in position (A) to prevent theft.

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Presumably they were thinking of theft of the charging cord, not theft of the car. :!:

What respectable thief does not have a chain-cutter to remove the lock?

What vandal cannot jam part of a paperclip into a keyhole so that you cannot remove the lock?

Pressing OFF on the charger would usually mess up your charging plans.

I wonder how much stolen e-hoses will go for on eBay or Craig's List?

How is Charge-Point (or other "charger" network) planning to keep their "chargers" operational?

Thanks for all the quick replies, I always park in the same spot with only very occasional competition so that's not an issue. I'm mostly just worried about how to get the power across the sidewalk and from keeping the cord from walking off.

Seems like this might be a dealbreaker for a lot of people living in urban areas, the exact target market for EV's.

What's needed is a small unobtrusive device mounted at ground level at the curb. I'd even be willing to let other people charge up there if there was an easy way to make a buck. I'm less worried about people cutting through a padlock than I am people just cutting through the cable to sell the copper.

Maybe one of the charging station companies will come up with a "residential service" model for this purpose.

Ask Charge-Point to install an e-fuel station in front of your house?

tsombrero said:

Seems like this might be a dealbreaker for a lot of people living in urban areas, the exact target market for EV's.

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Target market is not urban areas. That is a myth spread by lazy journalists.

In the US the target is suburban/urban households with multiple vehicles and a private garage.

garygid said:

I wonder how much stolen e-hoses will go for on eBay or Craig's List?

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Depends -- What do stolen gasoline nozzles & hoses go for? They all have quick-release fittings for drive-off as well.

Rubber hose is not worth much,
and consumers rarely need gasoline filler nozzles.

Copper is stolen regularly:

1. City Christmas tree stripped, and burnt down in the process.

2. Vacated home stripped of all fixtures, and wiring.

You may need to buy an e-hose and nozzle after yours is stolen.