If They Build It Will They Come? San Francisco Area EV Charging Network Expands
By John O'Dell June 9, 2009
The Northern California city of Walnut Creek has become the third community in the San Fransisco Bay area to install public chargers for electric vehicles, part of a plan to cover the region with a network of EV chargers to support the electric cars and plug-in hybrids area politicians believe will come.
Chargers already are available in San Fransisco, 24 miles southwest of Walnut Creek, and San Jose, 47 miles south of Walnut Creek and the same distance southeast of San Fransisco.
"Progressive Bay Area cities are leading by example when it comes to EV infrastructure," said Richard Lowenthal, chief executive of Coulomb Technologies. The Bay Area company [provides the chargers for the system.
"Nowhere else in the world can drivers of electric vehicles travel from city to city and find charging stations," Lowenthal said. EV owners in the area "can literally drive around the Bay Area and charge as they go," he said.
That's if they have at least 50 miles of all-electric range, or an engine that kicks in to increase the vehicle's driving range when batteries with less range are depleted, he should have added.
Coulomb's networked charging systems enable drivers to subscribe to the network service and use access cards to activate the chargers.
The company provides a Web-based trip mapping service and a list of its stations - 61 including sales demonstrators, in four states and Vancouver, British Columbia.
John O'Dell, Senior Editor
LEAVE A COMMENT