If you were to guess where the world's most state-of-the-art EV charging station is located, what would you say?
For those of you who came up with the answer of a small coastal city in Scotland, you may be correct. The city of Dundee, population 148,000 (roughly the size of Springfield, Massachusetts, or, if you prefer, Springfield, Missouri), boasts a whopping 370 EV charging stations and counting. Of that total, 185 of those are owned by the city.
Included among those is one with several features that may make it among the most eco-friendly charging stations in the world. Dundee's Clepington Road charging station — a former gas station being given a second chance at life — has 12 charge points, with five 50kW chargers and one 150 kW charger, all designed to be accessible to people who use wheelchairs.
It is also covered with solar canopies that connect to two on-site battery storage units, meaning that at least some of the electricity used to charge the vehicles comes from a clean, renewable source.
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And the cherry on top is that the solar canopy also harvests rainwater and funnels it into a purifying machine, also powered by the solar canopy, that then supplies EV drivers with clean drinking water. Electrek's Michelle Lewis called it "a feature I've not seen elsewhere."
Dundee plans to expand the solar canopy–water purifying system to each of its EV charging stations and also plans to install a charger every 1,640 feet, or around one-third of a mile. That means that range anxiety will be virtually nonexistent within the city's borders, and the city's residents will never be far from free, clean drinking water, provided they bring their own refillable water bottles.
Electrek's commenters were understandably hyped about the incredible charging station.
"Absolutely fabulous!" wrote one commenter.
"This is really cool, and hopefully many other charging stations copy it," wrote another.
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