- AT&T and Voltpost will bring internet-connected lamppost EV chargers to Michigan and the Metro-Detroit area.
- Voltpost’s curbside chargers can be installed in a few hours.
- Up to four EVs can be charged from a single stall.
Curbside EV charging in Michigan should become easier in the coming months thanks to a new collaboration between telecom giant AT&T and lamppost EV charging startup Voltpost. The two have joined forces to bring internet connectivity to EV charging posts across Michigan and the Metro-Detroit area–this way, the operator knows immediately if a stall has gone offline and can send a team to fix it faster.
Better uptime benefits both the company and the EV drivers who choose to top up their cars’ batteries while parked.
Voltpost’s lamppost charging solution essentially turns existing street lights into EV chargers. The startup claims the installation of a single stall takes anywhere from one to two hours and that the costs are much lower than a conventional EV charging station. However, the caveat here is that the charging speeds are limited to what one would experience with a home charger. The AC Level 2 lamppost chargers are powered by the street lighting grid, which was never designed to sustain high loads, so expect to keep the car plugged in for hours.
That said, the system can still come in handy when the owner of an EV goes to work and parks the car on the street. Or during a lengthy shopping trip topped off with an evening movie. It’s no DC fast charger, but it doesn’t claim to be one.
Each charger can be fitted with two or four retractable cables, which is a neat idea that helps with safety–there are no dangling wires for pedestrians or passing cars to run into.
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“Expanding access to EV charging is key to democratizing electric mobility and advancing the transition to renewable energy,” said Jeffrey Prosserman, CEO and Co-Founder of Voltpost. “Our collaboration with AT&T enables us to deploy highly connected and convenient EV infrastructure that equips communities with much-needed charging access.”
Voltpost has already deployed a handful of lamppost EV chargers in New York City and Detroit as part of a couple of pilot projects, but the startup has high expectations: it wants to install tens of thousands of curbside EV chargers by 2030. The first publicly available stalls will go online in the coming months at several sites across Michigan, New York and Illinois.