Voltpost Inc., is a company that has found a way to resolve the shortages of Electric Vehicle chargers, without significantly disrupting existing grid infrastructure. This invention is significant, considering that the installation of new grid infrastructure is precisely the problematic situation that has been hindering the large-scale deployment of EV chargers.
Indeed, the solution is a bit like an elephant in the room. Voltpost is simply tapping into the existing grid infrastructure found in public lampposts. They have created lamppost wraparound solutions that take just a couple of hours to install in what they call “charging deserts”.
In Voltpost’s own terms:
“Voltpost retrofits lampposts into a modular and upgradable electric vehicle charging platform. This provides people convenient and affordable charging access while reducing the cost, timing, and footprint of chargers.”
Generation 1, mobile-operated, Voltpost EV chargers wrap around the base of lampposts with one or several retractable cables for charging electric of hybrid vehicles (see image below).
The Voltpost invention won a Time Magazine 2025 Best Innovation Award. The inventors have also been awarded several US patents, both utility patents for the how the Voltpost invention works, and design patents for the ornamental features of the Voltpost invention. For example the US utility patent USD1089074S1, titled Electric vehicle charging station, was awarded to Joern Vicari, Jeffrey Borges Jones, Yang Cheng, Yerin Cho, Chiraag M Hebbar and Alejandro Enrique Vallejo, on June 20th, 2024. The patent was then assigned to Voltpost Inc., in New York, NY.
Below, the patent Figure 1, depicting the primary components of an electric vehicle charging system 100. The system is intended to transform a standard street lamppost 105 into a smart electric vehicle (EV) charging station 110. The EV charging station 110 surrounds the base of the lamppost 105 with a modular base protective unit 125, and a user-interactive technical unit 140, originally into which the user can plug a charging cable 135, to charge a vehicle 120 (electric or hybrid). The EV charging station 110 is managed by a mobile app 115, installed on a mobile device such as a smartphone 195, enabling a cloud-based charge management system 200 for charging the vehicle 120. Alternatively, a Bluetooth connection can exist between the EV charging unit 110 and the mobile device 195.
Below the patent abstract of the invention:
A system with a technical unit having modules that, when assembled, surround a periphery of a lamppost, at least one of the modules having an electric charging function capability, a non-charging function capability, or a communications function capability. The system may be charging station for charging an electric vehicle from a power source inside the lamppost may include a base unit to surround the base of the lamppost. [Abstract USD1089074S1]
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Voltpost
