Old phone boxes answer call for electric car charging points

As mobile phones become widespread so the need for telephone boxes dwindles, but resourceful town planners in Madrid have found a new use for them as re-charging points for electric vehicles.

Phone box sites relatively easy to adapt as recharging points because they tend to be located close to the roadside and already have their own electricity supply.

A trial will see 30 telephone boxes around the city transformed into charging points as part of a network of 546 state-subsidised recharging points, which will also cover Seville and Barcelona.

The Spanish government plans to spend the equivalent of £8.7m on encouraging the use of at least 2,000 electric cars in the three cities over the next two years.

A spokesperson for the Environmental Transport Association (ETA) said: “If these cars can be supplied with electricity generated by Spain’s wind farms they will provide a zero-emissions means of personal transport.”

Electric will store electricity

Electric cars that are charged using fossil fuel-derived electricity may not be as efficient as some internal combustion powered cars, but they could have the potential to store electricity on behalf of the National Grid.

Water companies have the benefit of reservoirs, but the National Grid has no such storage system and must second guess our habits in order to match supply with demand. If electricity could be stored in a cost effective way then power stations could operate in a more efficient way.

If most of us were driving electric cars that were re-charged via the National Grid, their batteries could provide the answer. Car batteries would take power from the grid overnight and send electricity back into the grid at peak times.

What is the ETA?

The ETA is an organisation providing motorists and cyclists with carbon-neutral breakdown cover and insurance products – including a car warranty for electric vehicles.