Using lamp posts to charge EV’s

[Welchyboy1]

Heres one to consider, the apparent government solution to charging EV vehicles for people without a driveway is to install a dual 16A charger on each street lamp post

this will also remove the requirement or temptation to trail charging leads across the pavement and walkways from peoples homes

due to the lamp post now having an LED lamp there is spare capacity to charge peoples vehicles

Fantastic idea!

How the hell is that going to work?? Potentially 7.5KW per lamp post all night long, over entire streets!

what cabling did the use for the street furniture? Have they actually considered the load implications?

Has someone not really thought that through, or am I missing something really obvious

 

[telectrix]

nicking solar panels with just be another nightmare.
never thought of that. need to have a word with the lads and source a fence to move them on. easier than bricking up to get the wheels off.

 

[DPG]

It's bad enough at the moment with people nicking catalytic converters in broad daylight, nicking solar panels with just be another nightmare.

They'll be integrated into the roof, not bolted on like on a van, etc.

 

[Simon47]

IMHO the reality is somewhere in the middle

Agreed. IFF they were available within my price range (which they aren't) then they'd be ideal for most of our journeys. And I have the benefit of having my own drive.

The question of charging is not an issue for most people... because if you can't charge at home, there are fast chargers/work chargers etc. and this will only get better as demand grows.

I disagree.
IFF we put the laws of physics aside for a minute, have a look at a typical forecourt when it's not very quiet. Take my local supermarkets - Morrisons has 12 pumps, Asda has 8, Tesco 12 (from memory) - and stand alone filling stations - 4, 6, and 8 pumps each from memory. Yes, they all have quiet times, but they all also have busy times - i.e. when people want to use them. Lets say it typically takes up to 10 minutes between arriving at the pump and driving away. Fast chargers take something like 1/2 hour and don't complete a charge in that time. So immediately 1/3 of the throughput.
No problem you say, plug in and go and do your shopping. Yeah, and how popular will you be with the angry mob waiting to charge when you arrive back in an hour or two's time ?
But I did mention the laws of physics. When multiple cars are charging, I believe many of these fast chargers reduce their power so that the combined load doesn't exceed what the local DNO can provide. So when it's busy, you can forget about that 1/2 hour 80% fill.

And that means you are back to having many dozens of charging points to cater for people going shopping for an hour or two while the car charges. I don't see there being much appetite for that for a while.


And for a bit of a laugh (or cry depending on your viewpoint), someone has worked out that a tesla now costs more to charge than to put petrol in a similar petrol car. https://www.whichcar.com.au/car-news/teslas-now-more-expensive-to-charge-than-petrol-cars So you pay a massive markup for having a lecky car, then if you can't charge at home you pay more than if you were putting petrol in.

 

[DPG]

Agreed. IFF they were available within my price range (which they aren't) then they'd be ideal for most of our journeys. And I have the benefit of having my own drive.

I disagree.
IFF we put the laws of physics aside for a minute, have a look at a typical forecourt when it's not very quiet. Take my local supermarkets - Morrisons has 12 pumps, Asda has 8, Tesco 12 (from memory) - and stand alone filling stations - 4, 6, and 8 pumps each from memory. Yes, they all have quiet times, but they all also have busy times - i.e. when people want to use them. Lets say it typically takes up to 10 minutes between arriving at the pump and driving away. Fast chargers take something like 1/2 hour and don't complete a charge in that time. So immediately 1/3 of the throughput.
No problem you say, plug in and go and do your shopping. Yeah, and how popular will you be with the angry mob waiting to charge when you arrive back in an hour or two's time ?
But I did mention the laws of physics. When multiple cars are charging, I believe many of these fast chargers reduce their power so that the combined load doesn't exceed what the local DNO can provide. So when it's busy, you can forget about that 1/2 hour 80% fill.

And that means you are back to having many dozens of charging points to cater for people going shopping for an hour or two while the car charges. I don't see there being much appetite for that for a while.


And for a bit of a laugh (or cry depending on your viewpoint), someone has worked out that a tesla now costs more to charge than to put petrol in a similar petrol car. https://www.whichcar.com.au/car-news/teslas-now-more-expensive-to-charge-than-petrol-cars So you pay a massive markup for having a lecky car, then if you can't charge at home you pay more than if you were putting petrol in.

I agreed with your point, and Also disagree. I hate life on the fence.

 

[Simon47]

Yeah, spliters in the backside are a PITA

 

[Dartlec]

And of course of the 10000+ houses that have gone up in the nice 'garden village' near me - most have no pavement in front of the house, let alone a drive, but an allocated parking space some way away where it's never going to be possible to install EV charging.

 

[ipf]

back to lamp post chargers. the local dogs will have a field day. not just a post to pi$$ up but a choice of 4 wheels as well.

Wheels?.......... Pi$$ing on bricks, springs to mind.