We develop a quantum simulator architecture that is suitable for the simulation of U (1) Abelian gauge theories such as quantum electrodynamics. Our approach relies on the ability to control the hopping of a particle through a barrier by means of the internal quantum states of a neutral or charged impurity particle sitting at the barrier. This scheme is experimentally feasible, as the correlated hopping does not require fine-tuning of the intra- and interspecies interactions. We investigate the applicability of the scheme in a double-well potential, which is the basic building block of the simulator, both at the single-particle and the many-body mean-field level. Moreover, we evaluate its performance for different particle interactions and trapping and, specifically for atom-ion systems, in the presence of micromotion.