Ask any electric car owner to list their favorite benefits of driving an electric car and the chances are that not queuing for gasoline is among them.
With relatively few electric cars on the road and public charging stations still hardly oversubscribed, finding a place to plug in is relatively easy.
But what happens as more electric cars hit the roads? Will you find yourself queuing for a place to plug in?
Not necessarily, thanks to the company behind the ChargePoint website.
Announced today by electric vehicle charging equipment manufacturer Coulomb Technologies, registered ChargePoint customers will be able to reserve any one of the 650 publicly available charging points nationwide through its mychargepoint.net website.
For most electric vehicle owners, the idea of reserving a place to charge may seem a little like overkill, especially since most public level 2 charging stations are generally used for opportunistic charging whilst visiting a store or restaurant, for example.
Coulomb Technologies CT-2000 electric vehicle charging station
But for those willing to push their electric cars to the limit, traveling up to and beyond the limits offered by a single charge, reserving a point at level 2 or 3 charging stations en-route certainly makes travel by electric car more predictable.
Using its SmartPhone apps or online portal, ChargePoint members can reserve a charging station up to 24 hours in advance, ensuring that there is a place to charge when they need it the most.
Upon reservation, ChargePoint members will be charged any necessary fees associated with the charging station they have reserved and will be given exclusive access to the charging point once they have swiped the point in question with their access card.
Any ChargePoint member trying to use a ChargePoint unit during the time pre-reserved by another member will find the unit will only respond to the card of the person making the reservation.
Those wanting to try out the system can even register for a free ChargePoint access card until the end of the month as part of Coulomb’s celebrations to honor EarthDay 2011.
Do you welcome the ability to pre-reserve an electric car charging station, or do you feel that the electric car charging infrastructure should be first-come, first-served?
Let us know in the Comments below.
[Coulomb Technologies]
