Bizarre new EV scheme to plug massive gap in chargers on British streets branded ‘pie in the sky’
A BIZARRE new scheme to plug the massive gap in EV chargers on British street has been branded “pie in the sky”.
Ministers are mulling a proposal to turn bins and lampposts into plug-in points for electric cars.
Six councils across the UK are being given cash to roll out the “smart bins”, which also beam out WiFi and 5G.
If all goes to plan, “street furniture” including benches, bus stops, traffic lights and CCTV cameras could all end up as EV chargers.
Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan told the Mail: “We’re always looking for new, innovative ways to make the most of advances in science and technology.
“Smart street lamps are the first step to making everyday infrastructure play a full role in building a better future for the UK.”
But Tory backbencher Craig Mackinlay slammed the Whitehall blueprint.
He said: “It is a pie-in-the-sky solution which comes nowhere near to matching the scale of the need for high-powered chargers.”
The government will fork up £1.3million for the pilot scheme in Cambridgeshire, Tees Valley, Kingston upon Thames, North Ayshire, Oxfordshire – and Parliament’s own borough of Westminster.
Streets will be dug up to plug the “smart bins” into the electricity grid.
AA president Edmund King said: “One of the advantages to using existing street furniture is that you don’t want to clutter up streets.
“We need lots of innovation and new ideas. Whatever you like it or not, this is a new dawn.”
It comes after a motoring whizz who drove the UK’s slowest EV has revealed why electric vehicles like it will never replace normal cars.