A powerful use for phone boxes

Phone boxes, nearing extinction in the age of mobile phones, now have a new purpose in life.

In an Australasian first, Spark announced today it is piloting the use of Electric Vehicle (EV) chargers fitted to phone boxes near Auckland, a move the company has dubbed ‘Spark Plugs’.

Spark Ventures chief executive Rod Snodgrass says the plan breaths life into the outdated units.

“Using our lovely phone boxes as top-up charging stations is an incredibly innovative and modest idea, and yet another way to breathe new life into the humble phone box which has a reputation of being a bit out of date,” Snodgrass says. “More than a thousand of them are now WiFi hotspots too, which was another Australasian first, so they’re quickly becoming a kind of ‘digital Swiss army knife’.”

“More importantly, this piece of kiwi ingenuity is another part of Spark’s commitment to New Zealand. As the number of electric vehicles rises we imagine the possibility of a network of EV chargers all around the country, connected to thousands of public phone boxes, helping unleash the incredible potential of the electric vehicle community,” he explains.

“We are proud to be playing a small part in the growing electric vehicle movement in New Zealand – every little bit makes a difference to our future. Electric vehicle drivers justifiably feel good about doing their bit for the environment, and we want to help that feeling last a little longer.”

Five phone boxes near Auckland are part of the Spark Plugs pilot, with three already converted and operational at:

• Waiwera Road, by the Waiwera Thermal Resort
• Waitakaruru Country Store car park, Waitakaruru, State Highway 25
• Prescotts Garages, Kopu-Hikuai Road, Hikuai, State Highway 25A
• Two more will be coming online shortly:
• Waipu Pharmacy, The Centre, Waipu
• Wellsford – either at the Memorial Park or at another site on SH1, depending on consents.

They will also be listed on Plugshare – a crowdsourcing app that plots charging stations all over the world.

The pilot will run through to the end of April 2016, and if it’s successful, Spark will look at expanding the network, provided the necessary permissions and consents are obtained.

More information about how to use SparkPlugs is available at spark.co.nz/plug