The global fleet of electric vehicles grew 60% last year, and while predictions vary, some people claim that we'll all be driving (or riding in) electric vehicles within just a few decades.
But in many cities, one major impediment could slow down adoption: Where the heck do you charge your car if you don't have a driveway or garage?
Hounslow Council in London has implemented an interesting—and aesthetically pleasing—solution to this problem. It has converted its streetlights to energy efficient LEDs and, in doing so, is integrating electric vehicle charging points in the base of those streetlamps. The charge points themselves come from German company Ubitricity, and they integrate with a custom charging cable—which is ordered by the EV owner/driver—that has an electricity meter built in.
So if you happen to live in Hounslow, you simply request a charging point from your council, they install three near your house (they are trying to avoid painting dedicated electric vehicle bays). You then order an Ubitricity cable, you plug in, and you start charging. Ubitricity then sends you a monthly bill, charged at a competitive rate of £0.13 per kWh. And that's it.
Who's liable when pedestrians trip on the charging cables?
[Ed note - As a side note, apparently the LED streetlamp replacement has some issues.] - Fnord666
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 21 2017, @01:33PM
I should also add that we do have a couple very excellent and authentic Mexican restaurants here. The problem is that they're too far from where I work to even order carry-out. Are they intimidated by the Trump administration's position on taco trucks? Is that why they haven't deployed taco trucks to every corner on their own? Big government really shouldn't be in the business of intimidating local businesses against deploying taco trucks to every corner.