Is Streetlight EV Charging the Future? Los Angeles Finding Out – CleanTechnica

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A full 10 years ago, on a cleantech tour in Germany, I and a handful of other journalists met with German startup ubitricity. The company had a dream — widespread charging access via light poles. The company wanted to install its charging technology in streetlights so that city dwellers without their own garage or dedicated parking spot with access to electricity could easily charge their electric cars. In an EV infrastructure shopping spree, Shell (the oil giant) acquired ubitricity, and the dream is alive, with expansion in the UK and parts of Europe. However, EV charging via streetlights hasn’t (yet) taken the world by storm. Will it?

The city of Los Angeles thinks this type of charging is the future. pLAn, a sustainability plan for Los Angeles, includes a target of reaching 25% EV adoption by 2025 and 80% by 2035. What can the city do to help reach those targets? Install more EV charging stations, or at least fund them. As part of that, the Los Angeles Bureau of Street Lighting (LABSL) is commissioning the installation of EV chargers in streetlight poles.

In July, one of the companies benefiting from this plan, AmpUp, wrote: “AmpUp, the most reliable and comprehensive electric vehicle (EV) charging software platform, and EVSE, a Division of Control Module Inc., which designs and manufactures unique, patented, retractable-cable EV charging stations and support equipment, today announced an expanded deployment for the Los Angeles Bureau of Street Lighting (LABSL) providing Level 2 EV chargers for an additional 150 existing streetlight poles throughout LA communities.”

Naturally, the keys here are going to be reliability, usability, and cost. You can pay for charging sessions through the AmpUp software app using credit cards, Apple Pay, or Google Pay. (Sorry, cash not allowed. 😉 )

EVSE argues that its hardware systems offer a high level of reliability and dramatically lower cost. “EVSE offers a unique light pole-mounted EV solution that can be installed on existing or new structures to save installation costs, enable curbside charging, and utilize precious right-of-way resources. This solution can lower installation costs by up to 70% compared to ground-mounted stations by eliminating digging-related construction and reducing the need for electrical wiring. Installed above grade at 10 feet, the solution reduces vandalism, vehicular damage, tripping hazards, and cable damage. The 25-foot cable descends upon activation and retracts when unplugged from the vehicle.”

Providing EV charging to residents of cities without their own dedicated parking spot seems like one of the biggest challenges for high levels of EV adoption. While parking garages with abundant EV charging stations is one logical solution, on-street charging is also critical. With that in mind, it seems like streetlight EV chargers have to be an important piece of the puzzle. Not everyone will be able to go to parking garages, and it’s not like we’re going to wipe out all of the on-street parking in place for city residents. Streetlight EV chargers appear to be one of the most space-efficient, cost-efficient methods of solving this problem, if not the most.

“LABSL oversees the city’s complex lighting infrastructure, featuring over 220,000 lighting poles. The LABSL streetlight EV charging program began with a mayoral target to install 10,000 EV chargers throughout the city, alongside a BSL initiative to replace existing bulbs with energy-efficient LEDs. The bulb switch significantly reduces electricity demand for lighting, freeing up capacity for other uses such as EV charging. The chargers are integrated into the existing streetlight infrastructure, utilizing 240-volt electrical service without requiring upgrades,” AmpUp writes.

As I was back in 2014, I’m curious to see where streetlight EV charging goes and how significant it is in our EV future.