Tech

A company invents charging stations installed in sidewalks

Rheinmetall, a German industrial conglomerate specializing in weapons and automotive equipment, has just presented a new concept for public charging stations. The idea is simple: integrate them directly into the sidewalks.

sidewalk charging stations
Credits: Rheinmetall

Do you know Yolocharging ? Faced with the lack of electric charging stations, some users no longer hesitate to show “ingenuity” to fill up their vehicle’s battery. Thus, in some large cities, it is not uncommon to see electric cables running between an apartment and an electric car parked in the street. These wires, which sometimes cross the public road, are wrapped around a balcony, a lamp post or are held together with tape or another system D technique.

To avoid this kind of phenomenon, several automotive industry players presented different concepts to allow motorists easy access to terminals in all circumstances. In particular, this involves a reflection on the format of the terminals. A Dutch company has notably unveiled its idea for a retractable bollard, which would sink into the ground once its use is finished.

Also read: The EU wants a charging station every 60 km by 2025, France still has work to do

Terminals buried in sidewalks, a promising idea

But it’s the turn of Rheinmetall, German industrial conglomerate specializing in arms and automotive equipment, to reveal his vision of electrical terminals. During a conference on electric mobility, the company unveiled another promising concept: terminals installed directly in the sidewalks. As you will have understood, the aim here is to facilitate access to a charging station, while cutting down as little as possible on the public space and the inconvenience potentially caused for other road and road users (such as cyclists, pedestrians, etc.).

For the moment, the solution imagined by the German company only offers slow charging in alternating current of 22 kW. Note that she also presented another “nomadic” kiosk prototype, in the sense that operators will be able to remove and install them in a few minutes. Here, the idea is to facilitate maintenance, and to allow managers to increase the number of terminals in specific areas in the event of high demand.

For the time being, these two projects are still in the test phase before receiving possible approval from the German authorities. Anyway, if Rheinmetall’s solutions are approved and democratized, Germany could be on track to reach its goal of one million installed terminals in the country by 2030. Already in June 2020, the Merkel government announced the introduction of at least one electric terminal in every German service station.

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