JUL 24

San Jose has been taking leaps and bounds to lead the country in sustainable living. They’re making significant progress by partnering up with Coulomb Technologies to test EV charging stations around the city. The 110-volt outlets can be installed on poles like streetlights in various public places so city drivers can charge up conveniently.

With the growing popularity of EVs as viable options to get around town, Coulomb expects that there will need to be two charging stations per car to ensure the proper infrastructure is created to manage the uptake in EV use. The extra charging stations stem from the fact that there is a national average of one residential garage for every 5 vehicles registered in the US, so vehicles without garages need a place to juice up, as well as vehicles that are part of car sharing programs.

An important element of charging stations is utility grid management – Coulomb also has that in the bag with their management technology, making the start-up company a sort of one-stop shop for EV charging infrastructure. San Jose, a city that loves its technology, will be able to take advantage of Coulomb’s wireless communication capabilities for charging stations, management of mesh networks to authenticate users, and management of energy flow and metering. The folks involved in using and working with the stations could access GPS-lined data online for super easy info linkage.

Should San Jose give them a thumbs up, Coulomb’s talks with other CA cities, as well as cities in Texas, Colorado, Florida and New York could prove lucrative. Other cities are also recognizing the importance of gearing up to host EVs and hybrids as consumers purchase more and more. It is simply a short matter of time before charging stations, including those using renewable energy like those undergoing testing in Japan, will be widely available – good news for all EV users.

Via Cnet; Photo via Coulomb Technologies

Comments (3)

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A city near you
written by The Food Monster, July 25, 2008

http://thefoodmonssterblog.blogspot.com
If this could become a widespread thing, I would be much more inclined to purchase an EV car. Especially if you could petition support to bring it to a city near you.

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Concerned Floridian
written by AC Booth, December 09, 2008

I think Wal-Mart shopping centers would be the ideal partner to team up with EV public recharging stations to further the EV network. They already have gasoline stations coexisting in their parking lots. They could add some solar collectors (trees) across their parking lots, and collect energy to be net metered into their facilities and/or sold to EVs via charge cards, cash cards, etc. That would truely be "one stop shopping."

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...
written by wedding dresses, October 13, 2009

including those using renewable energy like those undergoing testing in Japan, will be widely available – good news for all EV users.

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