Charging station

  • 2011 Chevrolet Volt plugged into Coulomb Technologies 240V wall charging unit

    The market for electric cars is a dynamic beast, different companies offering different options and usage varying all around the world. As with the U.S, European drivers now have access to a small selection of genuinely usable electric vehicles, from the Nissan Leaf, through the Chevrolet Volt and its GM cousin, the Opel Ampera, to tiny electric quadricycles like the Renault Twizy. European policymakers are also taking notice of electric vehicles. So much so, that the European Union is drawing up plans to have half a million charging stations around the Union by 2020, reports the...

  • Combined Charging System plug for DC fast charging
    VW, Eaton Show New CCS Electric-Car Charging Station

    Volkswagen Group of America and Eaton have together unveiled a new single-port Combined Charging System (CCS). The CCS meets the approved standard for charging from the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), and combines one-phase AC charging, three-phase AC charging, DC home charging and DC fast...

  • Chargepoint's electric car charging station app
    New ChargePoint Mobile App Shows Every U.S. Charging Station

    Android and iPhone users can now find any electric vehicle charging station in the country, thanks to a new app from ChargePoint. The ChargePoint EV app doesn't just let drivers locate ChargePoint's own stations, but those from other providers, too. Compatible with all Android and iOS smartphones...

  • Delphi wireless charging system for EVs
    Wireless Electric Car Charging: Steady Growth Through 2020

    Wireless charging is nothing new--but it could be the next widely-used technology in the world of electric cars. That's according to Pike Research, which suggests wireless charging sales will surpass 280,000 by 2020. The group cites the partnerships of several electric vehicle manufacturers with...

  • GE WattStation Electric Car Charging Station
    Home Depot Now Sells 30 Electric-Car Charging Stations

    If you run an electric car, you may well have considered installing a dedicated charging station in your garage or on the side of your home. After all, who wants to wait a dozen hours or more for their EV to charge using a standard 110-Volt outlet? Last year we brought you news that Home Depot...

  • BMW ActiveE electric car at closed NJ gas station after Hurricane Sandy [photo: Tom Moloughney]
    Assessing Sandy: Are Electric Cars A Better Bet In Emergencies?

    For many of us, lines at gas stations and homes without power are no more than news, but millions on the U.S. East Coast are still coping with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Many areas are still without power, and gasoline is a worryingly rare commodity for a transport system utterly dependent...

  • 2012 Chevrolet Volt Charges

    When General Motors launched the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid back in 2010, it chose to emphasize how it differed from electric cars by highlighting how its gasoline engine meant folks didn’t suffer from range anxiety. Now, almost two years after the Volt launched, charging data by a charging infrastructure company suggests that Volt owners have exactly the opposite problem: gas anxiety. In short, Volt owners do everything they can to avoid using their car’s built-in gasoline-powered range extending engine. And that means plugging in more often than all-electric cars, like the...

  • 2013 Chevrolet Volt, Catskill Mountains, Oct 2012
    Judge 'Charged' With 'Theft' For Plugging In Chevy Volt Electric Car

    For centuries, the role of Judge has carried with it a solemn duty to uphold justice, the law, and to ascertain which facts are true, and which are not. So when a journalist in Carmi, Illinois spotted a Second Circuit Judge charging his electric car at Wayne County Courthouse, they ran a story...

  • Tesla Supercharger fast-charging system for electric cars
    More Electric Cars, Not Charging Technology, Key To Mass Adoption

    It’s no secret that electric cars sales in the U.S.--and elsewhere in the world--aren’t as high as automakers and electric car advocates would like. The reasons given for this are many and varied: some commentators say plug-in cars are simply too expensive; others say that the lack of...

  • Coulomb Technologies ChargePoint
    Need An Electric Car Charging Station At Work? Here’s One For Free

    If you drive an electric or plug-in car and drive to work every day in it, you’ve probably given the topic of workplace charging stations some thought. Convincing your boss to shell out company cash for a charging station might not be that easy, but now charging station provider ChargePoint...

  • Fast Charging 2011 Nissan Leaf
    Quick-Charging Your Electric Car? It Could Be Less Full Than You Think

    Chademo-specification DC quick chargers make it possible for owners of electric cars like the Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi i to travel well beyond the range of a single charge in a day without waiting for hours every time their car needs charging. But while quick DC charging stations can charge the...

  • Loose Change
    Forget Smart Cards: This Electric Car Charging Station Is Coin-Operated

    Ask any electric car owner to tell you about public charging stations, and they’ll likely show you the wallet full of smart cards and RFID tags. That’s because most electric car charging stations, with a few exceptions, only give access to pre-registered members. But what if you could...

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf SL

    It isn’t a good time to be Nissan right now. For a start, its first all-electric car, the 2012 Leaf, is suffering from poor sales. Then there’s the matter of Leafs in hot states like Arizona exhibiting premature battery capacity loss to attend to. Then, over the weekend, more bad news came Nissan’s way: that the Leaf’s onboard charger was to blame for damage some Leafs sustained while plugged into GE’s WattStation. First reported two weeks ago, several Leaf owners had reported that their all-electric Leafs had sustained damage while charging at at number of level...

  • 2011 Chevrolet Volt 240V charging station
    Charge Your Electric Car For Less: Switch Off Unused Appliances

    One of the reasons people make the switch from a gasoline car to an electric car is to benefit from the reduced running costs. With some careful planning -- and special time of use tariffs that make night-time electricity cheaper -- charging an electric car can be pretty cheap. But what if you...

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf SL
    Nissan, GE, Working To Solve Leaf, WattStation Charging Woes

    Plugging an electric car into a charging station might seem like a simple process, but sometimes even the simplest of processes can go wrong. Over the weekend, we heard reports of several cases of Nissan Leaf owners whose Leafs had sustained damage after charging at GE WattStation Level 2 charging...

  • GE WattStation Publicity Shot
    GE Charging Stations: Now You Can Pay With PayPal, SmartPhone

    If you drive an electric car, you’ll be familiar with the frustration that occurs when you arrive at a charging station to find you can’t use it because you don’t have the correct smart card, key, or dongle. For those without the correct card, some charging providers can unlock a...

  • Charging Cable and Socket
    Your Guide To Charging Station Rage, And How To Avoid It

    A few weeks ago while borrowing a 2012 Ford Focus Electric, Forbes writer Todd Woody experienced what he described as Electric Car Road Rage: fear and anger associated with unsuccessfully trying to charge an electric car. It happened while he was at a cafe in downtown Berkeley, California, when the...

  • ECOtality Blink charging stations for electric & plug-in cars
    Syracuse Non-Profit Replaces Blink Charging Stations, Sues Ecotality

    Just as those buying an electric car have a choice of several different models to chose from, there are many different charging stations that individuals, businesses and local government can chose to provide convenient electric car charging. But in Syracuse New York, a non-profit organization is...

  • Combined Charging System plug for DC fast charging

    Remember the monstrosity we showed you that'll be your next electric car charging plug? Well, it hasn't disappeared in the intervening months, and eight global automakers are set to demonstrate the new standardized fast-charging technology this month. Developed by the International Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), the Combined Charging System plug allows fast DC charging for any vehicle equipped with the input. Audi, BMW, Chrysler, Daimler, Ford, GM, Porsche and Volkswagen are all on-board with the new fast-charging standard, so a wide range of future electric cars will be supported...

  • Polar Network Charging Stations
    Does Public Charging Network Confusion Hurt Electric-Car Use?

    Ask most non-electric car drivers why they haven’t even considered an electric car, and the reason they give will undoubtedly involve some form of range anxiety: the idea that an electric car will run out of juice before it reaches its destination. On the other hand, as those who own an...

  • 2012 Mitsubishi i
    What Makes A Town Electric Car Friendly? We Find Out

    It’s no secret that some parts of the U.S are more electric-car friendly than others, but what makes a certain town a better place to own an electric car than others? According to the Electric Drive Transportation Association (EDTA), four places across the U.S. are much more electric car...

  • Charting a new course:  Google maps
    Five Ways To Find Places To Refuel Your CNG, E85, Diesel Car

    If you choose to run your car on an alternative fuel or electricity, it's not always as easy to find somewhere to refuel or recharge as it might be with a normal gasoline vehicle. Luckily, you have technology on your side in the modern age. So below you'll find the best five ways of locating that...

  • Onstar Hopes To Make Charging Chevrolet Volts Greener
    OnStar To Help 2012 Chevy Volts Charge When It’s Greenest

    One of the biggest criticisms of electric cars is that they only move the pollution from the tailpipe of a car to the smoke stack of a power station. But a new application developed by General Motors' OnStar devision aims to help Chevrolet Volt owners charge their plug-in hybrid when it will have...

  • GE WattStation For Sale On Amazon.Com
    Electric Car Charging Stations: Now Available At Amazon.com

    We’re not sure about you, but doing that last-minute holiday gift shopping can be a real pain, especially if you’re trying to buy something specific like an electric car charging station. But just like so many other gifts, books, gadgets and household items, the humble electric car...

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