Tag Archives: charging station

Lamp posts become EV charging stations in innovative startup concept

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Having an electronic vehicle is becoming a bit more common, although still not as prevalent as we would like it to be. There are a lot of reasons why some are still hesitant about adapting to this more eco-friendly kind of cars. Aside from the price tag, charging your vehicle overnight is still not as easy especially if you don’t have a garage or driveway. You have to look for charging stations near your place but you probably won’t be able to do your charging overnight. A startup aims to solve that problem by utilizing trusty old lamposts.

Designer: Voltpost

Since street lamposts are pretty common, this New York City startup is proposing to retrofit these existing lamposts and use them to charge electric vehicles. They designed a shroud that will cover the lower part of the lamposts and inside you have various cables and electronic devices to juice up the cars that need them. You have retractable cables that can anchor up to eight feet off the ground and a hand level charger dock. It is also modular and can be installed in an hour and can be repaired easily.

For newbies to the EV game, charging your car here is as easy as plug and play. There’s an app where you can oversee the charging of your vehicle and it is also where you will pay for the service. You can also use it to reserve your spot in case you know the schedule when you need to recharge your vehicle and you don’t want to compete with other EV owners. Even the installation of these chargers on the lamposts is pretty easy and takes just an hour based on their initial tests.

Voltpost has finished a test with the New York City Department of Transportation and they are currently in different stages of development with other cities specifically Chicago, Detroit, and New York. This is something that will be pretty useful to encourage more people to switch to EVs, especially if they don’t have space in their houses to do their own charging. We look forward to the day when EVs are as common as hybrid or regular cars and having a more convenient way to power up is a step towards that.

The post Lamp posts become EV charging stations in innovative startup concept first appeared on Yanko Design.

Twelve South unveils 3-in-1 MagSafe Charger that also supports the iPhone’s StandBy Mode

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Although the most interesting iPhone feature to be announced at WWDC, it seems like the StandBy Mode‘s thunder was entirely stolen by the Vision Pro headset announcement. The StandBy Mode is Apple’s clever way of making the iPhone screen useful even when you’re not using it. Dock the iPhone horizontally on a MagSafe charger and the StandBy Mode screen kicks in, turning into a clock, calendar, or widget of your choice. The screen uses Apple’s always-on display technology, and since it needs to be plugged in to be active, it doesn’t affect your iPhone battery. The StandBy Mode was announced in June, but it gets its first proper third-party product in the form of Twelve South’s HiRise 3 Deluxe – a 3-in-1 charging stand that charges your iPhone, AirPods, and Apple Watch simultaneously without occupying a lot of space on your nightstand.

Designer: Twelve South

The HiRise 3 Deluxe is MagSafe certified, capable of charging your iPhone at up to 15W. It offers a unique advantage with its adjustable MagSafe pad, allowing a 35-degree angle shift for optimal viewing. Unlike traditional side-by-side layouts, this charger adopts a front-to-back arrangement, saving crucial desk real estate for those cramped nightstands or cluttered work areas. Twelve South prides itself on a footprint smaller than an iPhone 14 Pro Max laid flat. Additionally, the Apple Watch charging spot can be angle-adjusted too, allowing you to charge the Watch laid down flat, or even sitting upright if your band doesn’t open like traditional straps.

Although almost any MagSafe charging stand would activate the iPhone’s StandBy Mode, Twelve South was quick to capitalize on the HiRise 3 Deluxe’s ability by pretty much showing it in action. Dock the iPhone in place and its StandBy Mode activates automatically. You can swipe through screens to choose different clock/calendar styles or even select your own cards/widgets to show up when you’re charging your phone. Conversely, if you just want to charge your phone without the ‘theatrics’, dock it in portrait mode and it charges normally.

Aside from its clever, compact design, the HiRise 3 Deluxe is also MFi-certified, which allows it to charge your devices at the highest speeds permissible. In that vein, the dock supplies your phone with 15W, while giving your AirPods 7.5W of power to juice them faster than most conventional wireless chargers. The convenience ultimately lies in the fact that one single dock takes care of all your devices using a single cable and a single power socket, saving space pretty much everywhere. I’d throw in an AirPower Mat joke here but given how classy and functional the HiRise 3 Deluxe is, I wouldn’t want to kick a trillion-dollar company when it’s down.

Available on both Twelve South’s as well as on Apple’s own website, the HiRise 3 Deluxe starts at $149.95 and only comes in black.

The post Twelve South unveils 3-in-1 MagSafe Charger that also supports the iPhone’s StandBy Mode first appeared on Yanko Design.

Layer Design’s state-of-the-art charging station conveniently powers various devices without compromising aesthetics

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I like the idea of portable convenience over organized accessibility. For reasons of your own, if you think you’d better have a device delivering an organized desk than a device for the backpack, Vitra Ampi charging station is a state-of-the-art offering for you.

The compact charging station is designed to relieve you of messy, tangling cables yet provide you with enough ports for charging convenience. The device is boxy and may not be the best to carry around in the backpack, but then, it’s primarily fashioned for the working-from-home generation, for which the device checks all the boxes. Complementing the finesse of your home office desk, the Vitra Ampi is designed in collaboration with Vitra and LAYER. Ampi derives its name from ‘amps’ – a unit that denotes the amount of electricity used by a device.

Designer:  Layer Design

The desk accessory has a wireless charging tray on the top. It has a fabric tab protruding out of the side, like a tongue, pulling which a small drawer is revealed, which houses the USB-C and USB-A charging ports and two mains outlets within. The first collaborative product from Vitra and LAYER, the Ampi has been ready for the market after two years of dedicated development. For offering multiple options to charge various devices from one device, the Vitra Ampi is described as the ‘first charging station of its type in the world.’

The discretely designed Ampi features a body made from recyclable plastic. The softly tactile pull tab attached to the middle of the magnetic drawer is made from Kvadrat. For the benefit of the working population that has multiple devices connected at one go on the work desk; Ampi is a viable charging solution. It has the means to juice up to six gadgets, such as tablets, phones, headphones, and cameras, without tangling cables. Ampi is currently available in the UK, EU and the US in Basic Dark and Soft Grey colors for £185 ($199). We learn that it would be provided in five new colors within the next few months.

 

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Cassette Tape Power Bank Keeps Your Music Playing Longer

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Because retro is always in, tech company Remax has created a portable power bank in the form factor of a cassette tape. That sure brings back memories, doesn’t it? I wonder if you have to stick a pencil in the reel to rewind it. I’m joking, there is no rewinding – it’s a power bank. In that case, I’d like to make a withdrawal. Joking again, different kind of bank.

Available through AliExpress, the power bank cassette is available in red and yellow, packs a 10000mAh battery, and features 18W USB/USB-C ports for fast charging, and a 22.5W USB-C for super-fast charging, allowing for a full charge in around 60-minutes. That’s not bad. Granted it’s not instantaneous, but we’re not living in the future just quite yet.

Now they just need to make compact disc and 8-track versions and the holy trinity of bygone media power banks will be complete! And if they were smart, the 8-track power bank would be oversized and powerful enough to charge the car battery and vibrating bed in a shaggin’ wagon. Groovy!

This micro-mobility charging station features universal power adapters to minimize the hardware used in going electric!

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Duckt is a micro-mobility charging station that features a universal power adapter so every type of micro-mobility vehicle – from bikes to scooters can charge with ease!





By now, we’re all familiar with micro-mobility vehicles, like e-bikes and e-scooters. They fill our city sidewalks and their charging stations are found on avenues every couple of blocks. While micro-mobility concepts are typically designed for convenience first and foremost, all of the different micro-mobility vehicles take different charges which complicate the entire transportation process.

Offering a solution, Duckt is a modern micro-mobility concept that weaves a universal charger into its design to streamline charging periods and bridge all of the different micro-mobility vehicles already out there.

Inspired by the numerous configurations that can be created from perfect geometry, the team of designers, Alimşan Kablan, Emre Özsöz, and Pelin Özbalcı, positioned Duckt on power bases that form basic shapes. Chosen for their familiarity and clean design, the basic shape of the power station allows room for more than one type of vehicle to park.

The universal aspect of the charging station comes through Duckt’s adapter that can attach to any micro-mobility vehicle to then connect to the power station for charging. Conceptualized in three different layouts, each power station comes with ports for micro-mobility vehicles to slide into.

The first layout is Duckt’s simplest form, featuring a single dock for charging and a locking mechanism to ensure the vehicle receives all of the intended charges. The next layout, called B2, features a dual docking station for two vehicles in addition to the locking mechanism that’s built into every port.

The master connector, P1 “is a bridge that enables these stations to open up to the internet.” The tall, rectangular power port comes with a QR code that users can scan to access the internet while charging their e-bike or e-scooter. Recognized by A’Design Awards and Red Dot, Duckt is a modern solution for a modern inconvenience.

Designers: Alimşan Kablan, Emre Özsöz, and Pelin Özbalcı

Duckt’s P1 station comes with embedded QR codes that access the internet. 

When put together, Duckt accommodates every type of micro-mobility vehicle.

Each dock comes with a secure locking mechanism to ensure constant charging.

The “master connector,” P1 brings every component together.

The basic geometry of Duckt’s configuration allows room for more than one type of vehicle to park.

Integrated lighting makes Duckt visible even at night.

The post This micro-mobility charging station features universal power adapters to minimize the hardware used in going electric! first appeared on Yanko Design.

This Zoom-friendly charging station elevates + charges everything from your iPad to your laptop, making it the complete WFH package!

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This all-in-one charging station is the complete package – taking you from home comfort to professional Zoom call ready with its inbuilt Bodo Board, Bodo Stand, multiple wireless charging points as well as a Zoom Light in one neat setup. Equipped with a stand, the entire setup (including your iPad and the Zoom Light) can be quickly elevated to an ergonomic height, making it ideal for all video calls.

Designer: Bodosnap with Ecco Design

Click Here to Buy Now: $96 $160 (40% off). Hurry, only 3 left!

We live in a world where our gadgets rule us – with multiple chargers and charging points snaking across our home to ensure we never face the dreaded ‘Battery Low’ alert. Add to the chaos of finding the work-life balance; we have everyone recommending those ‘Top 10 hacks for an organized workplace’ all promising the miraculous solution to an improved workflow and increased productivity. After going through tons of such organization and productivity hacks, the “Bodo: The All-in-one modular charging station” is a comprehensive solution that will amp up your setup, whether you are working from home or back in the office.

Bodo is touted to be the world’s first all-in-one charging organizer, and in the true sense, it is actually one. Unlike other all-in-one stations with more substance on paper than in reality, the Bodo charging station arranges all the gadgets meticulously on a pegboard-like organizer that sits right on your desk. The entire setup needs one USB-C-powered port to relay power to the board, which is then distributed across a tablet charger, a phone charger, a watch + AirPods charger, a Zoom light, and a USB-A, and a USB-C charger that can be used to power your laptop as well. That’s an extensive list for the power-packed design, and the solution is so effective, the team patented the electric magnetic charging method!

Say goodbye to the chaos and clutter since the Bodo Board comes with a stand – no occupying the precious desk real estate – allowing you to place your gadgets at an elevated position at the desired angle. In fact, the stand goes up to your eye level to help you achieve that flattering angle for your video calls and video recordings. The stand also allows you to sit in an ergonomic posture that provides the best position for your neck, for writing or reading on the tablet as well as creating a great angle for your video calls. The entire board is your canvas for putting up your gadgets in the orientation you want and desired placement according to your comfort. This design brings a new era of ease in switching between tasks.

Bodo’s design team includes a prolific inventor and technology design entrepreneur for Fortune 500 companies with over 40 patents, and you can see that attention to detail that makes Bodo a minimalist fit for every desk setup. Along with the Bodo accessories, it creates an ecosystem that is perfect for work from home or the office.

The zoom light provides the best lighting ambiance for content creation, video calls, or professional online conferences. This tiny device is a valuable addition that will actually set you apart from the crowd without adding extra wires or clutter to your space.

Not only your desk, but the ultra-useful accessory is also the perfect mate for your kitchen or living room, for attending online yoga classes, or while working out when you need to follow the instructions of the live instructor or while following a recipe online. This is possible with the snap-on modules and detachable stands which bring true utility to the charging station. Add to it the minimal IKEA pegboard-inspired aesthetics, this design will be a fun yet functional addition to your desk setup!

Click Here to Buy Now: $96 $160 (40% off). Hurry, only 3 left!

EVgo will support Tesla cars at over 600 fast charging stations

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EVgo is still determined to be the glue that connects electric car drivers regardless of their preferences. The public EV power network is expanding access to Tesla connectors at its fast charging stations across the US. Over 400 of those are destine...

VW shows its mobile EV charging robot in action

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It’s now clearer how VW’s prototype EV charging robot will work in practice. VW has offered its first real-world glimpse of the mobile charger bot in action. It’s not just helpful for charging EVs away from dedicated spaces, it’s cute — the prototype...

Tesla Supercharger flaw lets rival EVs top up for free in Europe

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Tesla’s Supercharger stations normally aren’t very welcoming places to competing electric cars, but European chargers may be another story — for now. Electrek pointed to reports from Nextmove and others that Supercharger V3 stations in Europe are let...