Will These Curbside EV Chargers + Light Poles Proliferate In Cities?

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The biggest challenge for full electrification of the transport fleet seems clear to me — regular “home” charging for people living in cities who don’t have a dedicated place to park and charge. Simply put, with home charging, electric vehicles are much more convenient than gasoline-powered cars; but without home charging, EV life can get quite complicated. With good workplace or destination charging, even not having home charging can be fine (I lived like that for a few years), but the easiest thing is to just have home charging. That’s where BeamSpot comes in.

Beam Global has created the BeamSpot curbside EV charging station. To kick things off, since you can see the pics already, I’ll say that I’m not keen on the vertical-axis wind turbines. These things are generally not efficient or cost-effective. Seeing them on the BeamSpot almost made me turn away. However, there’s still the aforementioned need for curbside charging, the design seems useful others, and there’s another note that caught my attention: “Last year Beam Global announced the creation of Beam Europe through the acquisition of Amiga DOO, one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of streetlights. One of the many benefits of the acquisition was the enhancement of Beam Global’s ability to bring the BeamSpot™ product to market in both Europe and the U.S.” Acquiring one of Europe’s largest streetlight manufacturers means something, and it shows there’s substance behind the company, not just flash.

It’s still a big hurdle to mass-manufacture a useful, reliable, cost-effective product. So, we have to wait to see if the municipal cost analysis spreadsheets lead to purchases and widespread use. But, on the surface, a system that integrates streetlights, batteries, solar panels, and EV charging equipment seems like a good package that people should take note of, EV procurement teams should consider, and we should watch.

“We believe our BeamSpot product line will solve real problems both in America and in Europe: expanding access to charging where people need it most, at the curb on the street and in parking lots,” said Desmond Wheatley, CEO of Beam Global. “Areas with the most EVs often face significant challenges in deploying infrastructure and managing increased electricity demand. Traditional charging infrastructure can be costly and disruptive to install, often requiring significant modifications to existing public spaces. BeamSpot charging stations minimize the need for disruptive construction and electrical work while providing access to charging where people live, shop, dine, work and play. And because BeamSpot generates and stores renewable energy it will add robust capacity and reduce the threat from blackouts, without the need to build power stations and transmission and distribution infrastructure.”

Also, Desmond Wheatley has been in this game a long time. He’s had things work, and other things not. I’d like to see him really hit a home run with the BeamSpot. I still remember a presentation of his from about 15 years ago where he highlighted that we’re in a third stage of human history. In the first stage, we didn’t know how to make fire and thus create energy for heating and cooking. Then we learned that and have been burning things for energy ever since. Now we’re at a third stage where we can create energy without burning things, a new era of cleantech. I love that explanation. Now let’s see the BeamSpot get to work cost effectively doing so while charging electric cars. Is it possible this tech can proliferate in cities across the country or world?