Mid-Terraced house EV charging options

HangTime · 20 Feb 2023 at 11:32

Looking to hear from anyone who has come up with innovative ideas for installing an EV charger in cases where it's not logistically easy.

We live in a mid-terraced house, the garage and parking space are part of a shared block that is not immediately adjacent to our property, it's about 20-30 yards away. When we bought it in 2008 'nobody' had an EV so running power to the garage wasn't a priority. I can't see a way to do it that doesn't involve us either passing through/on the neighbour's property (and garage) or having to somehow be run along a passageway from our back gate and across a courtyard.
The front 'garden' if you can call it that is too small to replace with a driveway. The shortest distance from our house to the car would be if we parked out the front and then ran a loose cable to it, but that would literally be going across the pavement which I assume isn't allowed / trip hazard / would get run over by pushchairs etc. We could maybe get away with occasionally running a cable out the back to our parking space but that would literally be running diagonally across a courtyard with cars driving over it etc. Slightly left-field option might be if we agreed to swap garages with a neighbour a couple of doors down, our garage is closer to their property (it's actually a coachhouse on top of our garage) and their garage is closer to ours (could run a cable along the back passage without needing to cross the courtyard), but probably be a bit of a faff legally, also officially our garage has a private parking space in front of it but their doesn't due to blocking turning circles etc, so we'd be giving up a parking space if we did that.

I'm pretty much resigned to not having an EV unless we move house or range / charging time improves massively (thereby allowing us to 'fill up' using public services) / lamppost charging is rolled out, but thought I'd check in case anyone has faced similar issues and come up with a solution?

Uther · 20 Feb 2023 at 11:38

I think @dLockers runs a cable across the pavement?

Nasher · 20 Feb 2023 at 12:04

Don't just run a cable across the pavement. If someone trips over it you will be liable for injuries.

jaybee · 20 Feb 2023 at 12:09

Got any pics hangtime, so we can visualize better? Don't have to show all your property, just the general idea.

mid_gen · 20 Feb 2023 at 12:16

I'm in a mid-terrace, with no front garden area. I do have a ginnel though so could stick a charger just in there and run the cable over the pavement. I believe most councils are fine with running a cable across the pavement but you are encouraged to put a protector/trunking over it.

It'll mean perpetually running around moving the car whenever the space out the front becomes free, which is a total PITA. Realistically it would mean I'd have to cancel trips to work last minute due to not being able to charge. Public infrastructure round here is non-existent.

Frankly I don't see any evidence this useless shower in government have any actual idea how we're going to move to EVs.

MikeTheNative · 20 Feb 2023 at 12:21

Nasher said:
Don't just run a cable across the pavement. If someone trips over it you will be liable for injuries.

Someone near me has done this. They have taped the cable to the floor, put one of those boards that go over holes in pavements and put a trip hazard sign next to it. It's been like that for a good two years now so I'm assuming it must be fine. How they done it I don't think you could trip over it, i suppose if someone started untaping it, the board may come up a bit.

lordrobs · 20 Feb 2023 at 12:27

MikeTheNative said:
Someone near me has done this. They have taped the cable to the floor, put one of those boards that go over holes in pavements and put a trip hazard sign next to it. It's been like that for a good two years now so I'm assuming it must be fine. How they done it I don't think you could trip over it, i suppose if someone started untaping it, the board may come up a bit.

Proper cable protector starts at about £30 for 3m so I'd just whack some of that over the top if I were to run a cable across. Few minutes extra faff each time you plug the car in but pushchairs, scooters etc. will just roll over it and it won't be able to ride up and create a trip hazard like a loose cable.

I used to be of the mindset that it was pretty ridiculous to think that it was OK to just go running cables across a public path but if we are going to stick to this arbitrary cut off point for ICE vehicles (and lets face it manufacturers are now fully committed to this for all European markets) then what choice are people going to have?!

Nasher · 20 Feb 2023 at 12:57

MikeTheNative said:
Someone near me has done this. They have taped the cable to the floor, put one of those boards that go over holes in pavements and put a trip hazard sign next to it. It's been like that for a good two years now so I'm assuming it must be fine. How they done it I don't think you could trip over it, i suppose if someone started untaping it, the board may come up a bit.

Problem it is has to be signed off as safe by the council as it's over public land. But it would be near impossible to get them to do that.

sandys · 20 Feb 2023 at 12:57

I thought there were still charger install grants for this sort of scenario?

ajgoodfellow · 20 Feb 2023 at 12:58

Our house has an odd design that our two parking spaces are the other side of the pavement. House -> Pavement -> Parking Spaces -> Road.

We are are pure EV household (I have an MG5, my wife has an i3). I run the cable across the pavement, but only when charging. I purchased some very heavy duty (and physically heavy) cable protectors in bright yellow. These can withstand tonnes of load and lay completely flat. I have two of them which interlock and make sure that the cable is not visible. The cable and cable protectors are also under a street light. We have done this for 18 months and have had no complaints.

For me, the important thing is ensuring that we do not create a trip hazard.

Feek · 20 Feb 2023 at 13:01

sandys said:
I thought there were still charger install grants for this sort of scenario?

And how does that help? A charger is installed but it still has to go from the box on the wall to the car?

I have a similar situation except I have a decent depth grass verge to cross as well. That makes it somewhat more tricky than just taping a cable across a bit of pavement. Kids play on it, ride their bikes on it and the council mow it. That wouldn't go well if nobody spots the man on his mower riding over the cable.

Kenai · 20 Feb 2023 at 13:03

Nasher said:
Problem it is has to be signed off as safe by the council as it's over public land.

I'd have thought they're more likely to take the hands off 'its at your own risk' approach, than requiring individual sign offs.

I know my most local county council provide guidance on routing EV cables across pavements and make no mention of needing 'sign off'.

Jonnycoupe · 20 Feb 2023 at 13:15

Nasher said:
Problem it is has to be signed off as safe by the council as it's over public land. But it would be near impossible to get them to do that.

Which department do we ring to book an appointment.....

sandys · 20 Feb 2023 at 13:21

Feek said:
And how does that help? A charger is installed but it still has to go from the box on the wall to the car?

Doesn't it just mean that you have to do something like install a pole as part of install cost depending on the location, getting the appropriate permissions along the way. Our neighbour powers their garage similarly with electric cable going from roof to roof across the garden, much like phone lines do. With it being detached private parking you can get grant to assist with that?

Obviously I don't have a clear picture of the layout of the property and am not an installer so can't comment with any real knowledge, I'd get someone in to survey the site and provide feedback.

sovietspybob · 20 Feb 2023 at 14:20

I'd read on one council website (Bristol maybe?) that it was positively encouraged, just you need to be sensible and use a decent cable protector thing and it was all good. I've seen people have a pole in their front garden and hook it over that so it drapes down to your charge port and people just walk underneath it.

people run cables and hosepipes across public walk ways all the time and no one bothers as long as they're done sensibly, i don't see why just because it's plugged into a car at the other end it needs to be treated or thought of any differently.

https://wepoweryourcar.com/about/chargearm/

HangTime · 20 Feb 2023 at 16:35

Thanks, that 'ChargeArm' concept seems to be the most practical 'in place' solution, although it would look a bit weird and I'm sure someone would complain about it. Wonder how much it costs?

ajgoodfellow said:
Our house has an odd design that our two parking spaces are the other side of the pavement. House -> Pavement -> Parking Spaces -> Road.

We are are pure EV household (I have an MG5, my wife has an i3). I run the cable across the pavement, but only when charging. I purchased some very heavy duty (and physically heavy) cable protectors in bright yellow. These can withstand tonnes of load and lay completely flat. I have two of them which interlock and make sure that the cable is not visible. The cable and cable protectors are also under a street light. We have done this for 18 months and have had no complaints.

For me, the important thing is ensuring that we do not create a trip hazard.

Possibly a stupid question but if you only run the cable when charging, how does it it stay in place, is it just the weight that holds it in place and then you take it back onto your land when you've finished? Is it simple to do without having it ruck up and stuff? I can see in some ways this makes more sense than a fixed cable overlay because it gives you a bit more flexibility about where exactly you park.
There's something that doesn't quite sit right with me about running cables across the pavement though, might be a case of waiting to see if anyone else in the local area does similar first.

Semple · 20 Feb 2023 at 16:43

sovietspybob said:
I'd read on one council website (Bristol maybe?) that it was positively encouraged, just you need to be sensible and use a decent cable protector thing and it was all good. I've seen people have a pole in their front garden and hook it over that so it drapes down to your charge port and people just walk underneath it.

people run cables and hosepipes across public walk ways all the time and no one bothers as long as they're done sensibly, i don't see why just because it's plugged into a car at the other end it needs to be treated or thought of any differently.

https://wepoweryourcar.com/about/chargearm/

That looks hideous though. Whilst one in a street might not stand out so much, imagine a row of 30 terrace houses each with hanging charging cable outside, it'll look like some sort of garage forecourt.

As is typical with our government though, they come up with goals/targets nice and easy, but nobody thinks of the steps to reach it.

LeeUK · 20 Feb 2023 at 19:07

I was out for a walk a couple of weeks ago and walked down this back street and noticed someone had a big swinging pole over their high garden wall with a charging cable hanging from it plugged into a Nissan Leaf. It reminded me of something like a hose on a petrol station jet wash. I thought it looked very unusual. :cool:

muon · 20 Feb 2023 at 19:13

If outside every terraced house was one of these, imagine how bad of a situation it is for anything using wheels or people running. The odd one or two, you can deal with, but it is a slipper slope to ruining pavements. Worse when it is dark.

K.C. Leblanc · 20 Feb 2023 at 20:10

LeeUK said:
I was out for a walk a couple of weeks ago and walked down this back street and noticed someone had a big swinging pole over their high garden wall with a charging cable hanging from it plugged into a Nissan Leaf. It reminded me of something like a hose on a petrol station jet wash. I thought it looked very unusual.

Years ago there were petrol pumps that worked like that.