- San Francisco wants to have 100 curbside public chargers by 2030.
- It’s a win for people who live in apartments without home chargers.
- Residents can pitch the city to get a Level 2 charger on their block.
EVs may be perfect for city driving—but they aren’t always perfect for city living. City-dwellers without a parking garage or driveway often need to rely on public plugs, which can be inconvenient or far away. Using DC fast chargers frequently can get expensive, too.
But having a Level 2 charger right on one’s block could make electric car ownership a lot smoother. Which is why San Francisco is looking to grow its infrastructure to 100 public curbside EV chargers by 2030. And it’s allowing residents to apply to get one on their street.
Compared with some European cities, for example, the U.S. is behind the curve on curbside charging. Much of the focus and investment in the States has been on roadside fast chargers. Those are important, but they’re most valuable for long trips where charging quickly is paramount. With more Level 2 charging at the curb, cars could charge slowly for all those hours during which they’re sitting unused.
London has tons of curbside chargers. Or consider Oslo, Norway; the world’s EV capital is brimming with slower charging posts where people already park. (To be sure, the U.S. has the clear edge when it comes to detached homes with on-site parking, which is its own advantage in the EV transition.)
The San Francisco initiative, announced in late August, is called the Curbside Electric Vehicle Charging Permit program. It’s been developed by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority (SFMTA) for residents who don’t have access to a private garage. The 100 chargers will be built and installed by qualified vendors, like Hetch Hetchy Power, PG&E, and CleanPowerSF. However, they’ll be public chargers to be used on a first come, first serve basis, so even if you apply for one on your street and get it, that doesn’t mean you’ll always have access to it.
“Starting today, San Francisco has a clear process to bring accessible curbside charging to our residents. This program is a common-sense way to make it easier for San Franciscans to own an electric vehicle and help us achieve our climate goals together,” San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said in a press release.
This is the result of a pilot program from April 2025 that brought a few curbside chargers to the city. The year-long pilot informed the city about what EV drivers wanted, and what others needed to make the switch over to clean EVs. The answer was simple: more public charging.
It’s Electric, a Brooklyn startup, installed San Francisco’s first curbside chargers in April 2025.
“We heard from the community that one of the biggest barriers to wider EV ownership is the availability of charging stations. With this new program, we will be making it easier for people who rent or live in apartments and condos to charge their car,” said SFMTA Director of Transportation, Julie Kirschbaum.
In addition to formal applications, San Franciscans can also use a feedback tool to recommend certain streets for public charging. It features a map of the city with a form to fill out, so the SFMTA can get an even better understanding of where chargers will be most useful.
New York, too, recently announced plans to add 600 curbside chargers across the city, on top of the 88 already in place. The new focus on curbside infrastructure comes as startups launch new hardware targeted towards those kinds of installations. It’s Electric makes sleek bring-your-own-cord charging piles that it says are more simple to energize than other chargers. Voltpost specializes in solutions that bolt on to existing lamp posts.
