September 21, 2009 - Converting Telephone Booths into EV Charging Stations

Just a few years ago the electric vehicle was perceived as an invention of its own uncertain future.  With the ominous presence of big oil hanging over almost every industry the battle for a successful electric car market was bound to be uphill.

Yet despite the odds, the demand for electric vehicles has exploded in the last number of years bringing about the question of where will the electric driver fill up?

Like most ‘new' inventions, the electric car isn't new at all.  Some of the earliest automobiles were powered by electric motors driven by batteries.  Advances in the internal combustion engines, however, quickly took center stage and left the battery operated vehicles in the forgotten past.  History does repeat itself and for this underdog its second time has been the charm.  North America has tried to answer the question of where and how these vehicles can recharge on the road by experimenting with using existing light posts as power sources for some of their charging stations.  The drawback to finding a place to recharge on the road is that electric motors can take anywhere from 4 to 8 hours to fully charge making a designated station a necessity. 

Spain has come up with a creative idea to use their long dormant telephone booths as EV charging stations.  Being ideally set up on roadsides the phone booths make a great place to pull over and charge up your electric car. The phone booths already have their own power supply, making them easy to adapt and Madrid's city council says they have over 30 phone booths which can effortlessly be turned into chargers.

The government of Madrid has committed 2.2 million dollars to subsidize electric car charger points over the next two years. Likewise, Barcelona plans to install 191 points which will be attached to ‘intelligent lampposts' following in the footsteps of Coulomb Technologies which set up similar stations in San Jose, California last year. 

As an incentive or maybe reward for choosing a greener mode of transportation Madrid will allow electric car owners to charge and park for free.  They will also have their auto taxes cut by 75%.  The world is making room for green transportation, if you have an electric car talk to local officials about setting up EV chargers in your area!

Jennifer MacLellan is a contributing writer for the Green Guide Network. You can contact her at jennifer@greenguidenetwork.com.