IoT-Enabled Electric Charging Pilot to Ramp up New York EV Infrastructure

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Connected Kerb has been selected by the New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) and Newlab for a flagship internet of things (IoT)-enabled electric vehicle charging pilot project, The DOT Studio, to bolster city-wide EV use and infrastructure.

Connected Kerb, the UK-based EV infrastructure specialist, will deliver on-street EV chargers for a project in New York to demonstrate how public access to EV charging can drive up EV ownership amongst the 50% of residents that park their cars on-street.

The pilot will involve using the company’s chargers – which support a number of IoT (Internet of Things) and telecommunication applications – to showcase how the EV revolution can support the rollout of other public access technology in urban environments.

Connected Kerb 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 will demonstrate Connected Kerb’s ‘smart city’ infrastructure.

This project forms part of DOT Studio – a collaboration between the NYC DOT and Newlab, which is focused 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 Vision Zero and sustainability goals.

The findings from the pilot will inform wider EV charging rollouts across New York City, aiming to realise its goal of installing 10,000 curbside chargers by 2030, and electrifying 20% of municipal parking bays by 2025.

Pilot planning and design is underway now, with the goal of launching by fall 2022.

Steve Richardson and Nick Dobie, co-founders of Connected Kerb, stated on the project: “There are around two million light duty vehicles in New York City, accounting for 80% of transport emissions.

“DOT has established ambitious goals to eliminate these emissions by boosting electric vehicle adoption and The DOT Studio project will provide crucial a blueprint for how to deliver world-leading charging infrastructure to support that goal – supercharging EV uptake, cutting emissions and improving public health.”

Connected Kerb has selected Charge Infrastructure, a division of Charge Enterprises, to be its installation provider for the project. Charge Infrastructure offers end-to-end services for EV charging ecosystems, from project management to installation and maintenance.

According to Connected Kerb, the Newlab pilot project will provide a testbed with the hopes of proving that accessible and reliable charging infrastructure can be deployed in some of New York’s most densely populated urban areas, where space is at a premium.

It will also show that charging infrastructure can be adapted to local requirements like electrical standards and certifications.

The pilot is part of DOT’s ambition to steer the EV charging market before there is enough EV demand for the private sector to take over fully. This will be critical to ensuring that chargers are distributed equitably around the city, rather than concentrated in high-income areas.

“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,” stated Shaina Horowitz, VP of product and programs at Newlab.

Collaborative charging

Three chargepoint providers – Connected Kerb, Char.gy, and Voltpost – are participating and collaborating in the project.

Connected Kerb was selected for the project in June 2022, due to the flexibility of its charger infrastructure – which is often integrated into street furniture such as bollards – as well as the capability to integrate other smart technologies.

This includes 5G, IoT and air quality sensors to demonstrate how EV charging can be integrated with other critical smart infrastructure rollouts required in urban areas.

According to Connected Kerb, their chargers’ power infrastructure is also installed below ground, offering a longer lifespan by protecting critical infrastructure and enabling the company to add more plug sockets above ground as demand grows in future.

The announcement comes in as EV ownership in New York is rapidly expanding thanks 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 Biden Administration is targeting 50% of all new vehicle sales to be electric across the U.S. by 2030.

However, publicly accessible EV charging infrastructure is, according to Connected Kerb, slowing the city’s EV transition, where about 50% of private cars are parked on the street. Prospective EV buyers report that convenient access to charging is a major barrier to purchasing EVs.

With the recent announcement of the Inflation Reduction Act’s support from Senator Manchin, alongside the potential outcomes of this project, momentum behind EVs in the city is expected to gain more of a boost.