Charging station
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It's clear that after several years of electric-car sales, electric utilities see a role to be played in providing the infrastructure to make them practical. Two weeks ago, California utility PG&E received approval to install 7,500 public charging stations for plug-in vehicles. Now, Oregon's two largest utility companies have filed plans to increase electrified transportation by installing new charging sites, boosting public education on the benefits of electric cars, and increasing electric-bus purchases. DON'T MISS: CA approves PG&E plan for 7,500 electric-car charging stations...
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Reminder: buy that electric-car charging station (or electric motorcycle) this month!
With any new presidential administration comes a certain degree of legislative uncertainty. Conflicting statements on many issues by president-elect Donald Trump have produced more questions than usual about what policies he and his administration may pursue. But for present and future electric-car...
John Voelcker -
Battle over VW's $2 billion fund for electric-car charging: sorting out the questions
Yesterday, federal judge Charles Breyer signed the final agreement committing Volkswagen to buy back or modify the 465,000 TDI 2.0-liter diesel vehicles that are the main focus of the VW diesel scandal. As part of that settlement, Volkswagen has also committed to providing $2 billion in funds to...
John Voelcker -
Charging etiquette for electric-car drivers: what you need to know
As electric-car adoption expands past early adopters into more general buyers, it may be difficult for public charging infrastructure to grow as fast as the number of electric vehicles on the road. Here in the U.S., every month roughly 10,000 new plug-in vehicles are sold or leased—and that...
Tom Moloughney -
New Orleans: Big Easy to make life easier for electric car owners?
New Orleans has a hot-and-cold relationship with environmentally friendly technology. Last week, however, the two were definitely on good terms as the city council voted unanimously to make life easier for current and future electric car owners. Crescent City crises Given the New Orleans' tenuous...
Richard Read -
Will Apple sell electric-car charging stations?
The question of whether Apple is working on an actual electric car, or just software of some kind for future cars, continues to be a topic of hot debate in Silicon Valley and elsewhere. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Motors, said in January that it was "an open secret" that Apple is making an electric...
John Voelcker -
Electric cars all come with a 120-volt charging cable that can charge the battery from a household socket if there are no other options. But sooner or later, most battery-electric car owners will want a 240-volt Level 2 charging station that can recharge the car as much as four times faster. Owners of plug-in hybrids with ranges below 30 miles may find the standard charging cable fine, but as plug-in ranges rise, they too may decide a charging station will increase their all-electric driving. While 240-volt charging stations aren't complicated, there are many different options on the market...
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Charger, charger, on the wall, who's the prettiest plug of all? (video)
You can't refuel your gasoline or diesel car in your garage, but one of the greatest benefits of owning a plug-in electric car is home recharging. With a device that requires no more wiring than an electric clothes drier, electric-car drivers quickly learn to plug in when they arrive home in the...
John Voelcker -
How To Wire A New Garage For Electric-Car Charging: What You Need To Know
One of the more daunting perceived obstacles to driving a plug-in electric car seems to be the need for a home charging station. While plug-in hybrids can be recharged overnight using their 120-Volt charging cords, battery-electric drivers should really have access to a 240-Volt Level 2 charging...
John Voelcker -
Buying An Electric Car: Why Charging Rate, DC Quick-Charging Matter
We all know how to compare horsepower, acceleration, and gas mileage. Practical car buyers know to look at cargo volume, too. But when it comes to buying your first electric car, there are a few things you need to know about charging. Like the better-known measurements, the rate at which a plug-in...
John Voelcker -
Installing An Electric-Car Charging Station: This Old House Shows You How
The PBS show demonstrates installing an electric-car charging station.
Stephen Edelstein -
Charging A Tesla In China: One Owner's Creative, Dangerous Hookup
It has not been easy going in China thus far for electric-car maker Tesla Motors. Among the many challenges of selling its cars in that country are a lack of public-charging infrastructure and a Chinese charging standard that differs from any other standard in the world. Even more challenging, far...
John Voelcker -
It's always interesting to reporters when a news story produces unsolicited counterpoints from affected parties. Yesterday's announcement of the agreement among BMW, Volkswagen, and ChargePoint to install roughly 100 electric-car DC fast-charging stations by the end of the year spawned two separate e-mails from competitors. DON'T MISS: BMW, VW, And ChargePoint To Build 100 CCS Fast-Charging Sites For Electric Cars Those stations will provide quick charging to cars that use the Combined Charging Standard (CCS): currently the BMW i3, Chevrolet Spark EV, and Volkswagen e-Golf. (Some will also...
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ChargePoint To Release Home Charging Station For Electric Cars
ChargePoint, which operates a network of public charging stations for plug-in electric cars, announced today that it would offer a home charging station this summer. The ChargePoint Home, as it's logically dubbed, has a sleek modern design--and it's compact, at only about the size of a tablet...
John Voelcker -
All The Electric-Car Charging Connectors In One Great Big Poster
A reference guide to all of the electric-car charging connectors.
Stephen Edelstein -
Gas Cars Parked In One Electric-Car Spot Earn Raleigh $27,000 A Year
The problem of gasoline cars parking in spaces reserved for plug-in electric cars to recharge at is nothing new. It's known as "ICE-ing," referring to cars with internal combustion engines parking where they shouldn't. But the problem has proved to be lucrative for Raleigh, North Carolina. DON'T...
John Voelcker -
Tax Breaks Back For Electric-Car Charging Stations, Natural-Gas Cars, Through End Of Year
It's the end of another Congressional session, which means that a budget extension bill has now been rushed through and is likely to be signed. Called The Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014 (H.R. 5771), it contains special provisions, rule tweaks, and concessions for many, many, many different...
John Voelcker -
Electric-Car Charging Station Blocked? Get An Extension Cord!
It's called "ICE-ing," and sooner or later, every electric-car driver experiences it. The term refers to a non-electric car with an internal combustion engine (or ICE) occupying a parking space where a public charging station is located. The car is thereby blocking electric cars from recharging at...
John Voelcker -
Electric-car charging stations are still remarkably rare at gas stations, though a handful exist in the Pacific Northwest. But earlier this year, the Petro-Canada station in Crossfield, Alberta, installed a charging station. It's free to use, too. Perhaps not too remarkable, except that this is the heart of Canada's tar-sands oil region. The charger itself is a Sun Country 100-amp model that delivers up to 19.2 kilowatts of power, if the plug-in vehicle can accept Level 2 charging at those speeds. All about Crossfield Crossfield is about 30 miles (50 km) north of Calgary, Canada's fossil-fuel...
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Cross-Country Electric-Car Trips: Reality For A Few, Getting Closer For Many
The idea of traveling long distances in electric cars that have to be recharged after only 70 or 80 miles--or even 250 miles--may seem absurd to some. But while even the fastest of DC fast-charging isn't quite as quick as refilling with gasoline, yet, longer road trips in electric cars are possible...
John Voelcker -
CA To Require New Buildings To Be Prepped For Electric-Car Charging Stations
A new California rule will require new construction to have sufficient electrical capacity for charging stations.
Stephen Edelstein -
MetLife: Free Charging At Work For Electric Car-Driving Employees
Even Snoopy and the Peanuts gang are getting into electric cars these days. The long-time mascot of insurance company MetLife adorns dozens of plug-in electric vehicle charging stations the company has installed at every one of its 14 company-owned and operated sites in the U.S. DON'T MISS: Why...
John Voelcker -
Electric-Car Charging Station Prices Fall: 30 Amps For $500 (Through Sep 30)
When plug-in electric cars came on the market less than four years ago, the first 240-Volt home charging stations carried four-figure price tags. Now a handful of models cost less than $500--and a fairly high-amperage model is being offered by Home Depot this month for $499 after a special offer...
John Voelcker -
Ford HQ To Have Michigan's Largest Solar Array, 30 Charging Stations Included
Ford will install a solar canopy over parking spaces at its Michigan headquarters.
Stephen Edelstein