Voltpost’s 1st Public Lamppost EV Charging Station Installed in Chicago

EV charging stations connected to or coming out of lampposts are not a new idea. In 2014, 11 years ago, I visited the Berlin headquarters of a startup called ubitricity that was working on this in Germany. The company has progressed in various places, and I’ve heard of others working on this in Australia and Europe, but the idea has more or less been left out of the US EV charging discussion. Well, get ready, because a company in Illinois is trying to make a big move in this arena.

Voltpost has deployed its first public lamppost EV charging station in Oak Park, Illinois. The company says this “will expand access to convenient, affordable charging for the local community.” Voltpost worked with the Park District of Oak Park and regional utility ComEd to deploy the inaugural station.

Is this really the way forward? Do lamppost EV charging stations make sense? While they have their own challenges and limitations, I do think they are a superb solution to help bring cheap EV charging to millions of people who don’t have a dedicated garage or off-street parking space. We’ll see, but it’s exciting to finally have a public deployment of one of these in the US.

“Voltpost scales sustainable EV charging by retrofitting lampposts with a modular EV charging platform. The company rapidly and cost-effectively provides curbside and parking lot charging capabilities for public and private customers, including government, real estate developers, universities, parking lot operators, and more,” the company writes.

“The deployment of a Voltpost charger in Oak Park will expand EV charging access for the local community and help catalyze the transition to sustainable transportation,” said Voltpost CEO and Co-Founder, Jeffrey Prosserman. “This deployment builds upon our ongoing projects in New York and Michigan, and marks a step forward in our mission to scale the Voltpost platform nationwide. We are grateful to our partners at the Park District of Oak Park and ComEd for collaborating with us to make equitable EV charging infrastructure available for the residents of Oak Park.”

“Ensuring the residents of Oak Park benefit from affordable access to EV charging infrastructure is vital to fulfilling our commitment to serving the needs of our community,” said Kassie Porreca, President of the Park District Board of Commissioners. “We are happy to collaborate with Voltpost and ComEd to provide convenient curbside charging infrastructure that will improve village life.”

“As a liaison for 2c2i, an initiative that invests in startups tackling climate change and advancing equity, I’m excited to support Voltpost’s mission to bring sustainable, street-level charging solutions to communities,” said Najwa Abouhassan, Senior Manager Operational Planning, ComEd. “This collaboration represents a meaningful step toward cleaner, more accessible energy infrastructure, and I’m proud to help connect innovation with impact.”

“We’re proud to partner with Voltpost and ComEd to bring Oak Park its first lamppost EV charger,” said Chris Lindgren, Deputy Director of Properties and Planning, Park District of Oak Park. “This deployment supports our sustainability goals while providing residents with easier, more affordable access to clean transportation. It’s an exciting step toward building a healthier, more connected community.”

Let’s see if Voltpost can scale this up and deploy hundreds or thousands in big cities across the United States.