New car-charging "smart" street lights have been launched in Sydney, meaning EV owners can now recharge their vehicles on the fly. And in happy news for electric vehicle owners, the charging points are free to use - for now, at least.
The poles are designed by ENE-HUB, and are thought to cost around $30,000 each. The charging infrastructure is supplied by Melbourne Company Jet Charge.
The roll-out is part of a two-suburb trial (Blacktown in Sydney's west and Canada Bay in the city's inner suburbs), with 20 smart light poles to be installed, the first of which comes online this week.
The poles offer a wi-fi connection, but also provide a charge point that will allow EV owners to recharge their vehicles, even if they don't have off-street parking. The power supply is the same as that found in an average home - meaning recharging takes hours, not minutes - with the idea being that owners would recharge overnight.
"We've been working with a smart light-pole company to deploy the first light-pole chargers in Australia, and the first one is being turned on right now," says Jet Charge boss Tim Washington, who was speaking to CarsGuide at the Nissan Future summit.
"They're security cameras, they have LED lighting, and they have wi-fi hotspots and EV charging. And we helped them to design and build them.
"It's really to demonstrate what street-side charging might look like. It's a demonstration of what's possible."
Would streetlight charging tempt you into an electric vehicle? Tell us in the comments below.
Andrew Chesterton
Contributing Journalist
Andrew Chesterton should probably hate cars. From his hail-damaged Camira that looked like it had spent a hard life parked at the end of Tiger Woods' personal driving range, to the Nissan Pulsar Reebok that shook like it was possessed by a particularly mean-spirited demon every time he dared push past 40km/h, his personal car history isn't exactly littered with gold.
But that seemingly endless procession of rust-savaged hate machines taught him something even more important; that cars are more than a collection of nuts, bolts and petrol. They're your ticket to freedom, a way to unlock incredible experiences, rolling invitations to incredible adventures. They have soul.
And so, somehow, the car bug still bit. And it bit hard.
When "Chesto" started his journalism career with News Ltd's Sunday and Daily Telegraph newspapers, he covered just about everything, from business to real estate, courts to crime, before settling into state political reporting at NSW Parliament House.
But the automotive world's siren song soon sounded again, and he begged anyone who would listen for the opportunity to write about cars. Eventually they listened, and his career since has seen him filing car news, reviews and features for TopGear, Wheels, Motor and, of course, CarsGuide, as well as many, many others.
More than a decade later, and the car bug is yet to relinquish its toothy grip. And if you ask Chesto, he thinks it never will.
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