West Berkshire Council is one of the first UK councils to offer a through-pavement system for charging electric vehicles on the street.

After a successful trial over the last nine months, the Kerbo Charge system will be rolled out across the district allowing EVs to charge from their home supply, which is 5 to 10 times cheaper than public chargers.

In the system charging cables are laid by the user into a channel in the pavement and a lid closes behind it like a zip, eliminating hazardous cables stretching across footpaths.

Giving EV users the chance to charge on street without the need of expensive third-party chargers could help move the economic arguments in favour of owing EVs, with residents able to charge off-peak for around 7.5p / kWh or 7p / mile.

Michael Goulden, CEO and co-founder of Kerbo Charge said: “This is a very exciting moment - I think we're now going to see widespread adoption of EVs by West Berkshire residents who don't have access to a driveway and until now didn't have the confidence to move away from petrol/diesel cars.”

The cost of the installation is £999 and the work is completed by the council's highways contractor, VolkerHighways. Residents can take £350 off this price by applying for a central government grant.

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