Tesla Motors is quietly getting ready for an electric-vehicle charging station that could be considered smarter than the drivers using it. The California-based automaker has applied for a number of patents (details here) in which its super-quick Superchargers would be programmable to better manage what Tesla hopes will be a mass influx of t
We doubt AeroVironment wants to put electric-vehicle charging-station installers out of business, but the company's new product does give plug-in drivers, not to mention a few retailers, the option of skipping the part where you call a contractor. Meet the TurboCord.
It's unlikely that Bobby Troup had this in mind when he penned (Get Your Kicks on) Route 66 in 1946, but the Mother Road is being suggested by at least one automotive group as key to a transcontinental electric highway. The Historic Electric Vehicle Foundation (HEVF) says it supports the idea of making Route 66 the "core" of a network of electric-vehicle chargers, but few details are emerging as far as the number of stations and who would pay for them.
Silicon Valley has become a hub of workplace charging. In fact, if one of these San Francisco bay area technology companies doesn't offer that particular perk, they're likely to lose talented staff to competitors. Reports from the Valley say that there's a new kind of problem growing for employers – there are far more e
ClipperCreek may not be offering the least expensive Level 2 home-charging station on the US market, as it says it is, but it's not too far off the mark and gives the Golden State something to be proud of. The California-based company just starting selling its HCS-40 product, a 30-amp, 240-volt Level 2 charging station with a retail price of $590. The station is indoor-outdoor rated, includes a 25-foot long cable and comes equipped with a
A slow charge is better than no charge, but the state of California and some of its largest cities don't seem to understand that concept. That's the crux of an argument from Plugs and Cars' Marc Geller (a former contributor to AutoblogGreen), who cites the case of a Nissan Leaf-owning San Francisco police officer who had charg
Not only can you find any public charging and alt-fuel station from a user-friendly source, you can also view it on your iPhone and iPad. The US Department of Energy (DOE) has launched a new mobile app so drivers can find any green fuel you can think of – biodiesel (B20), electricity, ethanol (E85), hydrogen,
To paraphrase Mark Twain, rumors of the grid's demise on account of more plug-in vehicles are greatly exaggerated. And, while time is money, when it comes to electric-vehicle charging, more money means less time. At least, less time during peak demand.
Washington State plug-in vehicle charging stations along Interstate 5 are getting used more than twice as much as they were a year ago, the Associated Press says, citing a study from the Washington State Department of Transportation. In September, the state's 14 fast-charging stations along I-5 were collectively used 1,155 times, up from 528 sessions a year earlier. All told, those stations have been used more than 10,000 times since their installation last year.
Toyota is looking to more than double the size of the charging-station program it launched in Japan's Aichi Prefecture last year. And, at about a buck a charge, plug-in vehicle owners will likely to be more than happy to be the guinea pigs.
Volvo completed what it called a "successful" study of wireless charging systems for electric vehicles by fully charging up an all-electric C30 in about two and a half hours.
Anyone not satisfied with merely having a mortgage and a car payment, now you can have a payment plan on your plug-in vehicle charging station, too. Granted, this is more for business owners looking to provide publicly available charging stations, but ChargePoint (née Coulomb Technologies) is setting up a financing program for anyone looking to take the plunge.
Think of it as a plug-in pu pu platter, albeit a rather depressing one. That's the option cash-heavy investors with an eye for electrified light-duty vehicles had as charging-station maker Ecotality joined Fisker Automotive among entities whose assets were up for auction last week.
The city of Palo Alto, in the heart of California's Silicon Valley, is already on the cutting edge of modern technology, as the home of Tesla Motors, Hewlett-Packard and Stanford University. It also has large facilities run by Facebook, Apple, Google and PayPal. Outside of the private sector, though, there's not a lot to distinguish Palo Alta f
As expected, the governor of California, Jerry Brown, has signed Assembly Bill 8 – the pro-electric-vehicle, pro-hydrogen-refueling-station bill – into law. That means the state of California will now spend over $2 billion to extend
We wouldn't suggest that Oregon's tourism board is recommending drinking and driving. It's just that Travel Oregon is letting travelers know that the Beaver State has enough juice for plug-in vehicles while drivers – or passengers, at the very least – are out sipping fermented grape juice.
Elon Musk and his Tesla Motors may be receiving kudos from everyone ranging from equity investors to Time magazine to crash-test regulators to the wealthy car-buying public, but one auto writer in the Northeast is taking the electric-vehicle maker to task
For those of you who may have face-planted from a stray cord at a publicly accessible electric vehicle charging station, you'll now have a place to air your grievances. As if the plug-in vehicle driving contingent wasn't Yelped-up enough, folks can now "rate" their local charging station.
