Electric vehicles have become pretty common these days, but as an EV owner myself, I still get questions about what it’s like to own one.  Some people are still unsure how and if everything will work out properly.  I sort of get it, because gas cars have been our only option for our entire lives, so switching away from that seems risky.  But, I can say with complete confidence and honesty that going electric is no big deal and works great, even for people who don’t have driveways or garages attached to their house.

That was my biggest sticking point when trying to go electric- how can I charge the car at my house when I live in an urban area, have no garage, and have to park on the street? On my daily jogs around town, I noticed several people who just dragged the charging cord across the sidewalk and plugged it into the EV right at curbside.  The borough was probably unaware that this was going on, otherwise I assume they would have had something to say about it.

But if EV’s are going to be viable everywhere, municipalities will have to have some way of addressing the issue of curbside charging.  

Fortunately for me, my town (Lititz, PA) had recently passed a new ordinance addressing electric vehicles and related items like charging stations.  The code basically says that people have a right to own EV’s and to do what they need to do to operate them, within certain boundaries. There was language concerning where charging stations could be installed along streets and a reminder that nobody can claim ownership over a public parking space, even if they need that space to charge their EV.  The ordinance seemed generally reasonable and allowed for EV related issues to be worked through and solved.

So before we bought our EV, I contacted the borough and told them what I wanted to do.  My goal was to address the issue of curbside residential charging right out of the gate, and to create a pathway for other EV drivers to do the same.  I wanted to basically eliminate one of the main issues potential EV drivers face if they don’t have off-street parking/charging.

Between our electrician, our borough code managers and I, we ended up with a solution that I think is very reasonable, safe and effective.  In addition, there is now a clear blueprint to follow for anybody else looking to go electric with no garage, both in my town and elsewhere.

Here’s how we’re doing it.

The cord gets covered by these 2 rubber mats, which are easy for wheelchairs to pass over. Each costs about $25. Ideally the charge port would be on the other side of the car, but if the borough objects to our backwards parking (while charging only), we can buy a longer charging cord and park facing the standard direction.
We use the crack/divider in the sidewalk to reduce the how much the charging cord protrudes.
Run of the mill, standard home charger.
We installed 2 solar powered, motion sensor lights in the front garden that shine right onto the mat-covered charging cord. They flash on when people come down the walk at night, making sure they see the mat and cord on the sidewalk. The lights cost about $15 each, and “installing” them is fancy talk for sticking them in the ground.
The other light…
We house the mats on this towel rack, which we installed on the inside of our fence.

It takes about 2 minutes to plug the car in and lay down the mats. Same goes for cleaning them up after charging. It’s quick, easy and borough approved.

Since we are charging on the public street, we cannot claim the charging spot. Most times our neighbors are sympathetic and try to leave the space open for us if they have a choice. If they don’t, or if there are extra cars on the street, we usually have enough charge that it’s no big deal. We can just wait and charge the following day. The worst case scenario is that we’d have to drive to a nearby gas station/EV charge station and fast charge the next morning- similar to when a non-EV driver needs to get gas first thing before heading off the next day.

So if you’re considering an EV but have no garage and are worried about how it might go- hopefully this post will give you some hope and motivation. It can work! And if you do go electric, I doubt you’ll miss your gas car even for 1 day.

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