Rotterdam, April 19, 2021 – The city of Rotterdam, Streetplug and Last Mile Solutions have joined forces for a pilot with the first underground charging point for electric cars.
The Streetplug is a compact charging point for electric vehicles with a capacity of up to 22 kW. Due to the placement of the Streetplug in the street or the sidewalk, the impact of the charging point on the outside space is reduced to a minimum.
Streetplug is the manufacturer and supplier of the charging point, which was placed in front of the Rotterdam office of Last Mile Solutions earlier this month. Last Mile Solutions in turn takes care of the public accessibility of the charging station for all charging cards and the handling of payments.
Eric van Voorden, co-founder and CEO of Last Mile Solutions: “An underground charging station has aesthetic and practical advantages, because it has little to no influence on public space. Moreover, a traditional charging station, like the Streetplug, also requires excavation and there are few technical differences between the two.“
Because the charging station is sunk into the ground and the hatch needs to open up for inserting the plug, the drainage of water and dirt from the street are elements to be taken into account. Furthermore, the card reader sits on the ground instead of at hip level, so that can affect user-friendliness.
Van Voorden: “Thanks to this pilot project, we can experience all these things firsthand.“
After the test phase, the experiences with the Streetplug will be evaluated for possible application in the future.