Philly Installing 1,000 Curbside Chargers for EV Drivers

Philadelphia is about to solve one of the biggest barriers to electric vehicle ownership in cities: nowhere to plug in overnight.

The city just greenlit a deal with Brooklyn startup it's electric to install up to 1,000 curbside EV chargers across all 18 planning districts. For the more than 60% of Philadelphia households without driveways or garages, this could be the difference between going electric and staying stuck with gas.

The chargers will be Level 2 stations, the kind that fully charge a car overnight while you sleep. They'll pull power from nearby buildings and utility poles, a smart workaround that avoids the years-long waits and expensive grid upgrades that usually kill urban charging projects.

Site selection prioritizes equity and real demand. The city is focusing on neighborhoods with lots of rideshare drivers who need reliable charging, areas with few existing chargers, and communities highlighted in Philadelphia's Climate Action Playbook as underserved.

The approach is already resonating. Thousands of Philadelphia residents have joined the company's waitlist, signaling pent-up demand from people who want to make the switch but literally have nowhere to charge.

The first chargers should go live in early 2027. That timeline might sound far off, but for infrastructure projects tangled in permits and utility approvals, it's actually ambitious.

"Philly is exactly the kind of city where curbside charging isn't a nice-to-have," said Nathan King, cofounder and CEO of it's electric. "It's the only way most residents will ever be able to own an electric vehicle."

The Ripple Effect

Philadelphia isn't just adding charging stations. It's redesigning what EV infrastructure looks like in a dense city where most people don't have private parking.

If this works, it creates a blueprint other American cities can follow. Dozens of urban areas face the same challenge: residents want cleaner transportation, but the infrastructure assumes everyone has a garage.

By focusing on curbside charging where people actually park, Philadelphia is making electric vehicles accessible to apartment dwellers, renters, and anyone without off-street parking. That's the majority of city residents in places like New York, Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco.

The thousands-strong waitlist suggests there's massive untapped demand for EVs among urban drivers who've been left out of the transition so far. Meeting them where they are, literally on their own streets, could accelerate adoption faster than any tax credit.

Philadelphia is betting that the future of urban transportation doesn't require a driveway.