Households in Bristol without off-street parking can now express their interest in taking part in a citywide trial run by the council to test a new way to charge an electric vehicle (EV) at home.

Beginning in the summer, the trial will test a ‘cross pavement gully’ solution. These are narrow channels installed in the pavement that allow a charging cable to run safely from a home charge point to an EV parked on the street. The household would need to cover the cost of installing the channel, but the council would license the work on the pavement and organise them.

The aim is to understand whether this approach can make home charging possible without creating trip hazards, obstructing the pavement, or impacting other pavement users.

This trial has been designed to understand how this type of solution could work safely, conveniently, and fairly in Bristol, and to develop a process for any future use of this technology. As this is a controlled trial, residents cannot ask private companies to install these channels, and it does not include a reserved parking space on the public highway.

Councillor Ed Plowden, Chair of the Transport and Connectivity Committee, said: “With transport making up around 34 per cent of the average Bristol resident’s carbon footprint, and private car use a big part of that, we need to give people more realistic ways to switch to low emission vehicles. “For many households, not having a driveway makes home charging difficult or unsafe. This trial will help us work with residents who are interested in helping us to understand whether cross-pavement solutions can work well for Bristol and the process for how it could be rolled out. This is all part of our ambition to become carbon-neutral and climate-resilient as a city.”

Residents interested in taking part in the trial can submit an expression of interest at Cross-Pavement Gully Charging Trial – Expression of Interest – Bristol City Leap.

The trial will run from August 2026 to June 2027, with gully solutions being installed in batches.

Monitoring and evaluation will feed into a report that will help shape the council’s Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy.

The project is being delivered by Ameresco as part of the Bristol City Leap partnership, with the trial being run by Bristol City Council.

It follows on from the news that Bristol’s EV charging boosted by 150 new on-street charge points – Bristol City Leap.