This aspiring and persistent EV owner has installed the first kerb-side pop up charger
Kerbcharge in use. Image: B. Gaton
One of the issues for owning an electric vehicle can be charging when you have no off-street parking. As I have noted in several articles here, the issue may not be as big as some people would have you believe. In fact there are a number of potential options becoming available, depending on the situation.
Light pole mounted public chargers are one option being rolled out in increasing numbers overseas, and which are even being trialled in Sydney – as I wrote about back in 2020 here.
In fact, further Sydney trials have recently begun, as reported here. Another is pop-up EVSEs for public use – as I also wrote about back in 2019 here. Another option, where there isn’t a high demand for street parking so you can normally park in front of your home, is a personal pop-up charger.
For this last option, the difficulty being that between council and electricity authority requirements – these are difficult to impossible to get approved.
However one person persisted in designing and working through the approvals process for such a charger (as I wrote about some 12 months ago now) with the first unit finally going into the ground a few weeks ago – all with the approval of the City of Port Phillip (in Melbourne) and the electrical authorities.

Kerbcharge EVSE unit tucked inside the fence line. Image: B. Gaton
In the leafy (but largely off-street parking deficient) suburb of Albert Park in Melbourne, there is now the very first operational Kerbcharge unit.
I was lucky enough to attend the first test of the unit (with some borrowed EVs … as the proud owner of the unit is still a few weeks’ away from receiving their own).
The key to the Kerbcharge is it runs off the owner’s own switchboard, not the public street supply. As such a key condition for its use is it may only be used to charge the cars of the registered owner. (Or, I hasten to add, test cars for the initial commissioning process).
Mounted on a pole inside the gate is the charger itself. Then, running safely underground to the pop-up unit is a cable connecting the EVSE box to a sealed standard EVSE socket.
All you need to start charging is unlock the unit, pull it up and plug in. The rest is done automatically, as per a normal EV charger. Giving the maximum power available from the owner’s switchboard, the method is a lot safer, quicker (and legal) for recharging your EV than running a lead across the footpath.

On the day of the commissioning, it was surprising just how many people stopped to check it out and ask how it came about. It seems it may not be long before more of these units start popping up around the Port Phillip area!
For information on the Kerbcharge itself, visit: https://www.kerbcharge.com.au/
If you live in the Melbourne local government area of the City of Port Phillip, further information can be found at: https://www.portphillip.vic.gov.au/council-services/traffic-roads-and-transport/electric-vehicles
And the guidelines for applying for one are at: https://www.portphillip.vic.gov.au/media/kxofrppp/electric_vehicle_kerb_charging_permit_application_guidelines_december_2021.docx