17th July 2025
Oxfordshire residents without off street parking can apply for a scheme that allows them to charge an electric vehicle (EV) outside their own home.
The pilot project, being delivered by Oxfordshire County Council, is set to accelerate the transition to cleaner, greener electric vehicles. It will initially benefit 500 residents who don’t have their own driveway.
EV charging cable channels are an affordable and practical solution for people without off street parking who want to switch their petrol or diesel car to an electric one.
They allow the cable from a home charger to safely cross the pavement and connect to a kerbside EV without causing a trip hazard.
The project – believed to be the largest of its kind in the UK – benefits from a £700,000 government grant. The funding will significantly reduce the cost of the EV charging cable channel and its installation for the first 500 residents to successfully apply through the council’s website.
Oxford resident Guy Hargreaves (above), who took part in a similar but smaller trial in 2022, said: “My EV charging cable channel works so brilliantly that I can’t find a single fault in the product. I would recommend it to all EV and prospective EV owners who only have on-street parking adjacent to their properties without the slightest hesitation.
“The charging channel allows us to minimise the use of commercial chargers, whose rates are still a little too high at present. And, of course, being able to charge at home is safe and convenient.”
The project is part of a wider programme that will see at least 1,200 public EV chargers installed across the county by the end of 2027 as part of Oxfordshire’s local EV infrastructure (LEVI) funding, announced in 2024.
Councillor Judy Roberts, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet member for Place, Environment and Climate Action, said: “A third of Oxfordshire householders don’t have off street parking, so we believe this could be a real game-changer and give residents the confidence to switch to an EV.
“Being able to access home electricity rates and park in your usual spot are the sorts of things that are likely to make EV ownership a reality for many local people.
“We are confident that the scheme will be enthusiastically received and that this opportunity – alongside the major programme of public EV charger installation that we are about to embark on – will mean EV ownership will really take off in Oxfordshire in the next few years.”
Although the cable channels don’t come with designated parking spaces, in previous trials the users have found their neighbours to be sensitive to their parking needs and they are able to park and charge their car several times per week as required.
In the pilot scheme, the resident will pay the council £300, which includes a site survey, the installation of a channel and a licence to use the channel for the first two years. After the second year, they will have to pay the council an annual fee of around £100 to use the channel, which covers operating costs.
Once the £700,000 pilot funding has been used to install the first 500 EV charging cable gullies, the scheme may continue but is expected to be fully funded by residents.
The only way to install an EV cable channel in Oxfordshire is to apply to Oxfordshire County Council, which manages the highways. For safety reasons, people cannot install one themselves or have it privately arranged.
