The company’s EV chargers also support a number of IoT and telecommunication applications
U.K. firm Connected Kerb says it has been selected to deliver on-street electric vehicle (EV) chargers for a pilot project in New York.
This project is part of the DOT Studio, which is a collaboration between the New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) and Newlab that focuses on applying emerging technologies to advance planning, policy, operations and real-time management of transportation across New York City in line with the city’s goal around sustainability and reducing traffic accidents and fatalities.
The findings from the pilot will inform wider EV charging rollouts across New York City, helping to realize the city’s goal of installing 10,000 curbside chargers by 2030 and electrifying 20% of municipal parking bays by 2025.
Connected Kerb said that it was selected for the project due to the flexibility of its charger infrastructure – which is often integrated into street furniture – as well as the capability to integrate other smart technologies, such as 5G, IoT and air quality sensors, to demonstrate how EV charging can be integrated with other critical smart infrastructure rollouts required in urban areas.
As part of the project, Connected Kerb said it will receive funding to install its EV charging points and is currently exploring locations at the Brooklyn Navy Yard to deliver a “living lab” that demonstrates its infrastructure’s capabilities. This involves using the company’s chargers – which also support a number of IoT and telecommunication applications – to showcase how the these chargers can support the rollout of other public access technology in urban environments, the company said. Connected Kerb said that the pilot planning and design is currently underway, with the goal of launching this fall.
Connected Kerb has selected Charge Infrastructure to be its preferred installation provider for the project. Charge Infrastructure offers end-to-end services for EV charging ecosystems, including project management, installation and maintenance.
Connected Kerb said that EV ownership in New York is rapidly expanding due to a greater choice of vehicles and improved technology. In 2021, around 15,000 EVs were registered in the city, with over 5,000 of these sold in 2020 alone, the company reported. The U.S. government is targeting 50% of all new vehicle sales to be electric across the country by 2030.
However, Connected Kerb added that a lack of publicly accessible EV charging infrastructure is slowing New York’s EV transition, a city where about 50% of private cars are parked on the street.
The company say that its NY/Newlab pilot project will provide a testbed to prove that accessible and reliable charging infrastructure can be deployed in densely populated urban areas.
“Enabling greater EV adoption is critical to achieving New York City’s net zero goals, and we are pleased to collaborate with NYC DOT and Connected Kerb through the DOT Studio to help realize the vision for a more sustainable, resilient and equitable city,” said Shaina Horowitz, VP of product and programs at Newlab. “We expect the pilot to provide invaluable data on how to most effectively deploy EV charging infrastructure in densely populated areas and make scalable EV use possible, with potential implications for both NYC and cities around the world.”
