The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is funding a trial of electric vehicle chargers on street side power poles.

ARENA has announced $871,000 in funding to Intellihub for an Australian first deployment of 50 electric vehicle (EV) chargers on street side power poles for EV owners without off-street parking across New South Wales.

Intellihub will install EV chargers on power poles across nine local government areas in New South Wales to cater for EV owners who live in apartments, townhouses or units that do not have access to EV charging on-site.

Intellihub’s $2.04 million project is supported by Schneider Electric who will provide the EV charging infrastructure, and EVSE who will be managing the charging service. Schneider Electric’s EV chargers will allow for convenient top ups, as well as overnight charging.

Origin Energy will supply 100 per cent GreenPower for the project, meaning all of the energy required to charge the vehicles will be matched with the equivalent amount of certified renewable energy added to the grid.

The nine local councils taking part in the project include Waverley, Woollahra, Randwick, Lake Macquarie, Ryde, Singleton, Parramatta, Northern Beaches and Inner West local councils.

The trial aims to highlight that there are currently no regulatory barriers to using existing infrastructure that already has power running to it, such as street power poles, and will also help to understand the impact of EV chargers on the electricity network.

If the trial is successful, then Intellihub aims to pursue a wider rollout of chargers to more local councils on a commercial basis.

ARENA CEO Darren Miller said power pole charging provided the perfect solution to increasing public EV chargers.

“Not all electric vehicle owners have the ability to charge their vehicle at home, which is why we’re excited to partner with Intellihub on this trial that utilises street side power poles, providing a great opportunity to pair with EV charging,” Mr Miller says. 

“We look forward to seeing the results of the trial from Intellihub and hope to see it rolled out right across Australia.”

Intellihub CEO Wes Ballantine says: “It’s expected that as many as 10 per cent of new car sales in Australia will be electric vehicles by 2025. That equates to an extra 120,000 new EVs on our local streets each year. It’s likely that many of these car owners may be unable to charge their EVs from home,”

“Power poles line most of our public streets and that presents an opportunity for the EV charging market. They’re an accessible, safe, and practical option for EV charging.”