And daily the groundhog greets

Life during Corona isn't any less amusing than usual. Because some really peculiar ideas persist and pop up for our amusement time and again. It feels like being trapped in a time loop, like in a movie. Time to laugh about it.

My personal number one absurdity is charging at lampposts. Every year, this topic is reintroduced as something new. Sometimes in Berlin, then in Lucerne, now in Paris and other cities. And each time, the idea is presented at least as the Egg of Columbus. Even in otherwise reputable newspapers, obviously inexperienced journalists wonder why no one thought of this brilliant solution sooner.

One could naturally ask why a manufacturer that focused on this model has already gone bankrupt. But nobody does, because it seems like every day someone delightfully comes up with ideas that only work in the lab. There are a handful of obvious reasons why charging at lampposts will never work.

First of all, lampposts per se simply aren't located near every single parking space. Even along the street, there is no correlation between the number and rhythm of lampposts and parking spaces.

Then, the electricity from street lamps is simply not enough to charge a car. A typical streetlight is connected at 200 watts. But an electric car needs at least 1400 watts to charge.

Furthermore, a cutout on the pole weakens the stability of the lamp. Expensive reinforcements would have to be welded in or the charging station mounted externally.

The only advantage left is the occasional use of the lampposts as a support post for the charging station. However, costs are incurred due to the larger necessary supply line and safe charging technology.

But, and apparently no one has noticed this yet: The lampposts mostly stand at the very edge, lined by the sidewalk. Then come the parking spaces and the street. Now imagine the joyful obstacle course when all the charging cables are stretched across the sidewalk like tripwires.

Not everything that is technically possible makes sense. But our industry knows even more groundhogs. Curious? More on that in the next column!