A reader asks: Given the preponderance of on street parking in various Dublin neighbourhoods I wonder why on earth the powers that be have not invested in lamp-post charging? It is commonplace in London but I have not seen any trace of it over here. I did read somewhere that the only EV meter approved in Ireland would not fit into a lamp-post – yet they do across the water. Any thoughts?
This is one of those rare EV questions we have received where the rumour turns out to be – at least partially – true.
Our first port of call for this question was the Zero Emissions Vehicles Ireland (ZEVI) office, part of the Department of Transport, and the Government agency tasked with speeding up the roll-out of electric car charging infrastructure, and making electric cars seem more desirable to Irish car buyers.
When we asked about this ‘wrong size meter for lamp-posts’ question, ZEVI’s response was: “In other countries existing lamp-posts have been retro fitted with EV Charge Points with the meter for measuring electricity fitted to the charging cable ie external to the lamp-post. This allows for the existing lamp-post where suitably located to have a charge point installed using spare capacity within the post usually 2kW to 3KW.
In Ireland this solution is not viable given the requirement from ESB to have a in built meter and a separation from ESB and charge point infrastructure. This requires a bespoke lamp-post to be installed with enough space to include an ESB meter.
The ESB is considering a bespoke lamp-post solution and are looking at potential pilots for this solution however it should be noted that this solution will most likely add significant costs over retrofitting of existing lamp-posts and the use case for this solution will only be considered following the review of any pilot.
“It should also be noted that any lamp-post solution would only be considered where the lamp-post is positioned at the front of the footpath and any lamp-post positioned at the rear would not be suitable for health and safety purposes with cable not being permitted across footpaths.”
So yes, the tale is true – ESB meters don’t fit in lamp-posts and that’s why we can’t have lamp-post charging.
[ Can I tow a 1,200kg trailer with an EV?Opens in new window ]
However, the story doesn’t quite end there, because there are actually a few lamp-post chargers in Ireland. Ubitricity fitted out a handful of lamp-posts with charging sockets in the Fingal County Council area of north Dublin, with the Council picking up the cost of the charging so that it didn’t have to be metered specifically.
When first installed back in 2018, Ubitricity reckoned that the installation cost was only about €1,500 – low for an EV charging point – and that the tech was so versatile that it could be fitted to almost any type of roadside furniture, from lamp-posts to bollards. Sadly, and likely because of the metering issue, the idea never took off.
Then again, that might be something of a blessing in disguise. Lamp-post chargers tend to only operate at very low charging speeds – around 3kW, or about as much as a domestic socket. That was totally acceptable when the most popular electric cars were Mk1 Nissan Leafs and Renault Zoes, with 30kWh batteries. Plug a 77kWh Volkswagen ID.4 into a 3kW charger today and you’ll be sitting there for 25 hours to get a full charge ...
Equally, some studies into lamp-post charging made the point that lamp-posts aren’t fitted at car-length intervals, and parking bays were not in most cases specifically marked out for EVs, leading to the possibility of ‘charging rage’ as desperate EV drivers remonstrate with heedless internal combustion car drivers over parking. There were also concerns that the wiring in lamp-posts – only ever intended to deliver enough power for a sodium bulb – wasn’t going to be up to the rigours of charging EVs.
[ Is it safe to bring electric cars on ferries?Opens in new window ]
However, that last point appears now to be moot, as in a recent report, UK Power Networks has advised charging operators that it now seems that the wiring inside most lamp-posts is robust enough to deliver a 5kW charge, which is at least a bit more like it – now it’ll only take 15 hours to charge that ID.4, and seeing as hardly anyone ever charges up from completely flat, overnight charging from a lamp-post suddenly starts to look like a practical proposition again.
It won’t be an easy road to get from here to mass lamp-post charging – that ESB meter design will have to be changed, and the concerns over designated parking will have to be addressed, so don’t hold your breath. It does seem as if lamp-post charging is, actually, a good idea though, and so hopefully it can now start to gather some decent momentum.
