Cambridge, Massachusetts, legalizes sidewalk electric vehicle charging

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People who live in the city and have electric cars face some challenges because if they don't have a driveway, there's really nowhere to charge their electric car.

But now, in the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, you can apply for a permit for a mat to cover that cord and charge your electric car on the street.

Electric vehicles are popping up all over the place, but with the purchase comes the question: where do you charge them?

"One of the things that we wanted to be able to do is charge from home, but we don't have a driveway," Russell Keziere said.

"We had a choice; we can sell the car or buy a bigger house that had a driveway in it, or we could just snake a cable over the sidewalk and charge the car," Keziere said.

Keziere is the first person to obtain a new permit through the city of Cambridge to extend the charging cord across the sidewalk using an ADA-approved cover so anyone can move over it.

"It's also totally inequitable that only people who own houses with driveways would be able to charge their cars," City Councilor Patty Nolan said. She proposed the solution to the council, and the city created the permitting process.

Cambridge residents with a parking sticker can apply to use the ADA-compliant ramp or a 9-foot-tall swing arm that extends over the sidewalk for their cords.

They need a certified letter from an electrician, and the charger must be installed outside and only use 120 volts.

If approved, the cord can be out for 12 hours a day or less and must be removed when not in use.

For Keziere, the restrictions are worth it.

"Extremely convenient," Keziere said. "It takes out any kind of anxiety or doubt about whether you should have an EV."

The program does not give drivers preferential street parking in front of their houses.

The city admits that this is not a long-term solution, but rather a solution to a problem, to fill the interim until more long-term charging stations and more fast charging stations become available across the country.