Dublin electric car owners at war with the city council over private charging points need to book a flight to Düsseldorf – now.
A quiet revolution is happening in the western German city, just five kilometres north of the old town. To be precise: in the kerb outside the building Derendorfer Alle number 19.
Look down and you will see where Düsseldorf Stadtwerke, the local municipal authority, has installed one of six so-called ladebordsteine or kerb-chargers.
A decade ago the city began installing its first EV chargers – the usual upright stations now familiar in most big cities. But the future has now arrived, with the only visible part of this next-generation EV charger being two panels on a white strip of new kerb.
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One panel is a basic interface with digital display, LED lights and a wireless NFC interface. A charging socket is concealed under a round stainless steel cap.
That cap unlocks once an EV owner is logged in via a QR code, allowing them to attach their car using a short cable to the waterproof plug. The charger is waterproof, space-saving – and modular for easy repair. And it is proving hugely popular.
“I find it a great invention and a great idea with nothing to bang your door against and less cable to annoy pedestrians,” said German EV-influencer Sigmund.
He shared his test of the new kerbside charger with his YouTube followers. Connecting to the kerbside plug, he exclaimed with childlike wonder: “Wow, it’s charging! These should be installed everywhere, this is the future.”
Sigmund was one of hundreds of people who participated in a one-year test of the chargers in neighbouring Cologne. After 2,800 charging processes, totalling about 50 megawatt hours, feedback was hugely positive with 4.38 out of five points.
Like Sigmund, other users praised the charger’s ease of use and the parking flexibility it allowed. Older users liked the easy accessibility in the kerb. Many were impressed by the robust design that kept the chargers working in all weather. And the kerbside charger is safer too, with less cable for people to trip over.
The test phase complaint most of interest to both sides in the Dublin charging war, perhaps, was that the kerb chargers were, if anything, too discreet and, for some, hard to find.
Even the most sceptical officials in Düsseldorf now agree that the kerb chargers solve two problems at once: satisfying the need for e-chargers while acknowledging lack of space in urban areas.
Düsseldorf mayor Stephan Keller is a fan, predicting that the Rheinmetall kerb charger “has the potential to increase still further the public acceptance of electric mobility”.
Engineers at Rheinmetall’s innovation lab say the product emerged from a broader discussion in the company. As a big component supplier to the car industry, Rheinmetall wanted to know why e-mobility wasn’t taking off.
All studies flagged the same hurdle: people will shun EVs without a secure and convenient charging option.
Lead engineer Felix Stracke, Rheinmetall’s head of alternative mobility, recalls his first conversation about kerb chargers came during an interview with a job applicant.
“We discussed what a nice solution the kerb might be as they are everywhere, they are cheap, relatively robust and are close to the vehicle,” he said. “That was a bit of a Hollywood ‘aha’ moment.”
Focusing on the kerb allowed engineers devise a product that would grow the charging infrastructure without littering already cluttered city streets, creating friction with pedestrians, planners and even conservation officials.
Earlier this month, the kerb charger scooped a prestigious Red Dot Design just as it went into mass production with a price that, Stracke says, can compete with traditional charging equipment. And he is confident that further savings are possible given its scalability.
The new kerb charger comes at just the right time for Dubliners amid growing tensions in the capital’s suburbs. Last week, The Irish Times reported on how EV owners find themselves in conflict with neighbours and the local council over private charging points.
In one case, Dublin City Council has ordered a Ranelagh resident to remove his €3,500 “charging arm”, a pole in his front garden which hoists his charging cable above the footpath to reach his car.
Dublin city councillor Rory Hogan for Pembroke is curious for new solutions given the challenges on other fronts, including planning bans on converting private gardens into driveways with chargers. Another proposed solution – adding chargers to telegraph poles – has proved unlikely, he says, because of incompatible wiring.
“The electric charging arms we’re seeing now are only a temporary fix,” he said. “This German solution, to put the charging stations underground, is probably the most compatible with Dublin planning regulations.”
Rheinmetall doesn’t rule out selling to private individuals in the future but, for now, is focused on rolling out further pilot programmes with city authorities around Europe. So if any Irish city wants to get ahead on e-mobility thanks to German engineering, dial R for Rheinmetall.
For company engineer Felix Stracke, the tipping point for e-mobility will come when the public space is remodelled to match our private space.
“We all have multiple plugs in every wall in our homes,” said Stracke. “We have a vision of making this as much of a given in cities, so a person need have no fear of not finding a plug to recharge their vehicle.”
