Undoubtedly, the biggest hurdle for the uptake of electric cars in the UK is the poor charging infrastructure in the country.

Even the most populated cities like London, Birmingham and Glasgow don't have enough public charge points to cater for the electric vehicle market to expand, and issues with reliability, multiple socket types and difficulty to find one unoccupied is leaving many early adopters scratching their heads.

But a new smart cable could be the shining light that's needed to scale the problem, quite literally.

That's because it plugs directly into existing street lamps to charge your EV.

Bright idea: Instead of installing standalone charge points, a German firm has come up with the ingenious idea of tapping into the power supply at the nation's 7.5 million lamp posts

It's from German tech firm Ubitricity and is being used in a number of London boroughs, including Richmond upon Thames, as of this week.

Sockets have already been installed in lamp posts for residents across Twickenham and Barnes, each at the cost of £1,000.

That's significantly cheaper than the rumoured £6,000-a-piece charge points already in use in the capital and new conversions can be funded through the £2.5million 'On-street Residential Chargepoint Scheme' local councils can apply to dip into through the Office for Low Emissions Vehicles.

With 7.5 million street lamps in the UK, according to Highways Agency figures, it could be the most affordable answer to the nation's need for an improved EV infrastructure to make plug-in vehicles more practical for the wider market and to reduce the exceedingly high pollution levels in urban areas.

EV owners simply purchase the specialist smart charging cable, which holds all metering and billing information that is then relayed to the user's mobile electricity contract.

Some users may have concerns for security though, as there seems to be no way of preventing someone of stealing the expensive cable or simply removing it to charge their own car at your cost.

Once the council has okayed the use of the new system, the panel on existing street lamp posts is removed, and a socket is installed with a new cover attached.

Users will have to purchase a special charging cable (which costs around £50 more than the standard cable that comes with a plug-in hybrid or electric car) that controls all usage and billing information

Even listed lamp posts can be converted, Ubitricity said - like this one in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

That means the structure of the lamp post remains the same at all times, negating the need for a standalone unit or ongoing installation costs and hold-ups for road users.

In fact, a spokesperson for the brand told This is Money that each socket can be fitted in under 30 minutes and can be removed within three minutes, if necessary.

The age of the lamp post also appears to be of little issue - Ubitricity has already installed sockets to heritage-listed lamp posts in Kensington and Chelsea under approval of the council.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST AND HOW AM I BILLED? The Smart Cable costs around £50 more than the standard cable that comes with the car you've bought. It can be used as a direct replacement and will work on Ubitricity and non Ubitricity sockets, so you will only need to carry the one. When used on non Ubitricity sockets it works in a passive mode and Ubitricity do not see any of the data. The contract is not fixed term and typically is a rolling monthly contract. The cost of electricity is similar to domestic rates, currently around 15p per kilowatt hour as it taps into the electricity that's already there via the existing street furniture and existing electrical connection. There is also a 9p plug-in charge (every time you plug into a column) and a 'small monthly base fee'. The prices available will vary depending on the car, a small plug in hybrid may have a different tariff from a full EV with a 100kWh battery - this follows the same principal as a mobile phone with different tariffs available depending how much you use your it. The SmartCable will also offer the unique opportunity for residents to select their own energy provider. They will then be able to take their own mobile energy tariff to any of the Ubitricity sockets across the UK.

It would mean no additional street furniture cluttering the roadside and avoids the need for dedicated EV parking bays that strip conventional car owners of limited spaces in the country's major cities.

London boroughs already signed up to the initiative have been converting groups of lamp posts in busy areas, with Richmond Council hoping to provide 'lamp column chargers in residential roads across the borough for both businesses and residents'.

Richmond Council Cabinet Member for Highways, Peter Buckwell said: 'Poor air quality is one of the biggest issues facing London. We need to do everything we can to cut vehicle emissions.

'Supporting the take up of electric cars is a key priority for this Council.

'These zero or low-emission vehicles have the potential to reduce local air pollution but we have to provide the charging infrastructure if that is going to happen.

'I hope that as we continue to roll out more charging points, even more residents will start buying electric cars.

'They aren't just good for the environment, they are also good for the pocket.'

Greg Edwards, Transport Planner at the London Borough of Hounslow added: 'The Council has faced a number of challenges installing electric vehicle charging infrastructure in residential areas because of concerns around the addition of street clutter and the associated costs with installation.

'There have also been challenges with implementing dedicating parking for electric vehicles, which we've found can cause friction between residents at a time when electric vehicles make up a small share of the overall market.

'We turned to Ubitricity for its solution because it addresses many of these issues.

Converting the street lamps to chargers costs around £1,000, though local councils can use the £2.5 million supp;lied under the On-street Residential Chargepoint Scheme by the Office for Low Emissions Vehicles

Each post takes just 30 minutes to be switched into a charge point and can be removed again in 3 minutes, Ubitricity told This is Money

'Because the technology can be retrofitted into existing streetlights, we can avoid adding unnecessary street furniture to residential streets and since we can connect to an existing electrical supply we also avoid any associated civils work, which subsequently reduces installation time and overall cost.

'As part of our offer to residents, we have installed 36 charge points with 12 Hounslow residents participating in a dedicated trial and we will be installing 75 charge points by Summer 2019.'

According to vehicle-charging website zap-map.com, there are 4,476 UK locations with a public charging point with a total of 6,910 devices across the country.

The total number of connectors (some have more than one) is 12,839 and 373 new connectors have been added to the network in the last 30 days.