For most Engadget readers, telephone booths rank somewhere up there with smoke signals in the annals of communication devices --
old,
primitive, and bypassed by newer and better technology. Ah, but wait, what if we used all those cables we have wired into those boxes for something actually helpful? Telekom Austria's trying to do just that with its newly unveiled plan to roll out 30 electric vehicle recharging stations over the rest of this year. Attached to what are admittedly rather swish phone boxes, these stations will juice up one of the 3,782 currently registered electric or hybrid transporters in Austria at remarkably low prices. The testing phase will allow free recharging, and even after that it'd be a single-digit Euro cost to boost your battery back up. Ironically, the fastest way to pay will be via your mobile phone, but let's just get this project off the ground first,
then we can worry about how to save the precious talker boxes from extinction.
posted May 6th 2010 12:27PM
ahhh. europe
@Amorfous
What phone booth ?!?!
@Amorfous : you can "fap" in the booth while you wait. :)
@One Love
More like discharge station.
@Amorfous where's the hole to plug it in?
@Amorfous aah europe indeed lol!!!
So you go to an old payphone station to charge your car of all things, and the easiest way to pay is with your MOBILE phone!
THE I-R-O-N-Y!
It may be in Europe now, but I have it on good authority that we'll have something very similar-looking in San Angeles by 2032.
Be well, Amorfous.
@Amorfous
i would like to meet the guy who first thought of this idea. and give him a pat on the back. now that's innovation for you. seriously.
Too bad she ain't naked.
@techlord
Yeah, no man is seeing that picture and thinking about phone booths or charging stations...
@The Advanced Kind
Alessandra Ambrosio. Thank me later.
@techlord I just came here for the comments on the girl.
@ssgadget
You mean "meat" her. =)
@Generalissimo SAME LOL!
that station charges me too :-) along with my EV!
@satish
"Your fapping provides the required kinetic energy to start the rechading mechanism...."
Very good idea. Awesome.
Not only it will recharge but "release" as well
Hmmmmm...nice
I'd love to plug something into her.
"Jenny, this is Europe. They have orange juice ads with lesbians and dildos."
Great idea, by the way. On the booths, that is.
@whiskers Here is another popular ad from a while ago:
http://img256.imageshack.us/i/palmersbigww3.jpg/
Greetings from Austria!
She's.....electric?
@Scape3d Boogie woogie, woogie!
Oh, I'm already regretting that.
@DegreeThis You can't resist it.
So, it's like a gas station... But with electricity?
What phone booth?
Here in slowly slipping back to the medieval ages UK, despite all the morale posturing by the media luvvies, no such initiatives. It is interesting how one always feels one's home country is 'the' place to live, until travelling or reading stories like this. We reside in a progressive city, yet it has the worst pollution of almost any in the UK. Yes, the buses use some form of green fuel, but they are not electric, branded tickets cannot be shared and they cost a fortune. (£2 across town, 3 miles. Ouch!)
@Oflife
You mean apart from these ones....
http://www.smartebike.co.uk/charging-station-locations
@Oflife Oh you Brits are gonna get some nice modern shariah courts ;)
Number of comments about story: 3
Number about advert: 11
Oh, engadget :p
@ssgadget No idea. I saw the picture and thought "I bet the comments for this are interesting"
Genius Idea. They should turn every group of phone booths in the US into these charging stations. maybe a lil wifi hub??
What charging station?
Make it look like the Tardis, for an instant charge.
You can jack your car in while you whack yourself off!
@pagercam "Bender, are you jacking on in there?"
I actually saw a person using a phone booth a month ago and was actually shocked... it's like seeing some using one of those cheap text only PDA's from the late 90's... which I also witnessed last Saturday.
Uh, that booth isn't for phone calls.
Would be nice if they added some cables to be able to charge phones for free. iPhone/USB Mini/Etc... Bleh there needs to be less proprietary shit. Everyone use USB Mini B and the world will be happy.
Something tells me you won't be able to use existing power cables meant for low wattage phones to charge a car. You need a high voltage lines for that, so boxes will need to be rewired anyway...
We had those ads here in Slovenia too, but on bus stations :)
And yeah, the charging thing is an ok idea
@GGG same here in Slovakia.. but we have bigger ones - I mean ads :)
@ujolenin Slovakian (I hope that's right) girls ain't bad either! Please send them all over to Vienna!
I'd stand in that phone booth all day.
I don't see a neon green recharging station. I only see a phone booth.
I'm from Austria :-D
But, why did I read this news first on an american website? LOOL
There are no advertisements for this on TV or in the radio.
@(Unverified) it has been on orf.at and futurezone.orf.at two days ago :-)
Can someone explain the point of this?
Aren't phone booths usually on the sidewalk in non-car friendly areas, ie not in parking lots?...
I've never been turned on by EV recharging stations before, but damn...