- Rheinmetall's Curb Charger fits neatly into the sidewalk.
- It doesn't have a support structure, meaning pedestrians can still enjoy the full width of the sidewalk.
- The Level 2 charger can provide up to 22 kW of power through a 400V three-phase electrical connection.
Curbside electric-vehicle charging is great. It’s very convenient, especially when you need to do stuff for a few hours away from home. The chargers are usually mounted on some sort of pole or support structure—maybe shaped like a parking meter, or even a lamppost itself—but that can take away some space for pedestrians.
Now, though, there’s a solution, and it comes from a rather unusual company. Rheinmetall is Europe’s largest arms maker, but the German company is also knee-deep in the mobility game. And its solution is to simply replace concrete curbs with discrete Level 2 EV chargers.
The product is called simply the Curb Charger, and it’s exactly that. A 176-pound (80-kilogram) modular lump of stainless steel and aluminum that houses all the necessary equipment to deliver up to 22 kilowatts of power to an electric vehicle.
It has an integrated 4G modem and Ethernet port, as well as an RFID reader and a display. The charger can be controlled via a smartphone app or by scanning an RFID card or QR code. It’s IP68 rated, meaning it can be submerged in water that’s at least 3.2 feet (1.0 meter) deep for at least 30 minutes.
Rheinmetall says the encapsulated electronics can withstand any type of weather and that the enclosure has built-in drains, so that even if it pours, it can still safely deliver power to a connected EV. To make a point, the company has a video where someone pours a bucket of water over the charging cable.
In case the water level rises on the street, there’s a water level sensor that cuts power. There’s also a built-in heating system for when it’s very cold outside, which ensures the charger is always snow- and ice-free.
Speaking of the cable, the charger doesn’t come with one. The enclosure sits flush with the sidewalk, so EV drivers need to have their own Type 2 cable in the trunk—but that’s rarely an issue, especially in Europe, where curbside charging is typically a bring-your-own plug affair that most drivers are already used to.
Charging operators also have it easy after installing the Curb Charger because if something goes wrong with one unit, it can simply be replaced with a fresh one, thanks to a quick-release system that separates the metal enclosure from the electronic module.
For the past year, Rheinmetall ran a field trial with four curb chargers in Germany, and the results are impressive. The chargers had an uptime of over 99% and provided over 2,800 charging sessions over 12 months, in all kinds of weather.
With any luck, innovative charging solutions like this one will catch on in other parts of the world as well.
