coulomb

Coulomb Technologies today is demonstrating a way to locate public charging stations for electric vehicles through the TomTom car navigation systems.

The application will let drivers find and reserve the nearest available Coulomb charging site, as well as get details on each location, such as the cost, charge rate, and connector type.

Coulomb, which is one of the major players in EV charging sites, declined to say when the product will be available. It does intend to integrate with other car navigation systems, according to a representative. The TomTom application is being shown this week at the Plug-In 2011 electric … Read more

In an increasingly crowded business of electric vehicle charging stations, a couple of companies are touting speed.

Ecotality and Coulomb Technologies today announced direct-current charging stations that can significantly refill an electric car's battery in around a half-hour. Both companies displayed their DC charge stations at the Business of Plugging In conference here.

Ecotality's Blink DC Fast Charger has the ability to blast 200 amps of current to a car's battery. The company expects to have 150 of the systems installed in public places as part of the EV Project public charge station network by next summer, … Read more

Coulomb Technologies unveiled its latest electric-vehicle charging station on Thursday morning in Detroit.

The Motor City is the first locale in Michigan to get a charging station for public use as part of ChargePoint America, a $37 million program to install public and residential stations throughout the U.S. to encourage adoption of plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles.

ChargePoint is funded in part by U.S. Department of Energy as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Automakers Ford Motor, General Motors, and Smart USA are also partners on the project. The automakers have a vested interest in making … Read more

Coulomb Technologies installed its first public electric charging station in New York on Wednesday. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg attended the unveiling of the ChargePoint charging station, which is located in a public parking lot near Port Authority.

It's the first installation of Coulomb Technologies' $37 million project, funded in part by a $15 million grant administered by the Department of Energy, the Associated Press reported. The company will install thousands of public charging stations in nine U.S. regions: Austin, Texas; Detroit; Los Angeles; New York; Orlando, Fla.; Sacramento, Calif.; the San Jose/San Francisco Bay Area; Redmond, … Read more

General Motors will offer the first 4,400 buyers of its Chevrolet Volt the option of having a 240-volt charging station installed in their home when the car is released this fall, the company said Thursday.

The Volt is General Motors' upcoming plug-in electric car that promises a range of 40 miles on electricity alone before one is forced to switch to gas for fuel. GM refers to it as an extended-range electric vehicle, or EREV, instead of a hybrid because the gas engine generator is not directly tied to the car's transmission.

The 240-volt charging stations will be … Read more

A small but serviceable infrastructure for charging the batteries in electric vehicles is springing up in the United States, but it's largely in people's own garages.

Outside the home, more charging stations are being built, but locations are still widely scattered. In the long run, experts say, the basic charging technology being used to launch tiny volumes of EVs today probably will predominate in the near future.

"Most of the technology issues are minimal," says Phil Gott, director of automotive consulting for IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Mass.

Global Insight's main concern about electric vehicles is consumer resistance because of the limited range of EVs, Gott says. A widespread charging structure--particularly high-voltage, fast-charging stations--could overcome that objection.

But the consensus is that the majority of initial EV owners will recharge overnight at home using slower, comparatively low-voltage charging stations. High-voltage charging stations will top off the battery during the day if necessary, at locations such as shopping malls or at recharging stations along highways

Home is where the charger is

Most home charging uses a Level 2 charging station. According to Coulomb Technologies Inc. in Campbell, Calif., which makes charging stations, the most common Level 2 in-home installation will require 240 volts.

Older homes may need a bigger electrical panel, but most homes built since the 1980s probably can accommodate a home charging dock, says Kristen Helsel, vice president of EV solutions at AeroVironment Inc. in Monrovia, Calif., another manufacturer of charging stations.

It takes two to six hours to recharge a car with a Level 2 station, depending on how far the battery is depleted. AeroVironment says a Level 2 setup costs $2,000 to $4,200. Local labor rates account for much of the difference, the company says.

Level 1 charging uses a standard 110-volt household electrical outlet, Helsel says. Because that takes at least twice as long to charge as a Level 2 setup, manufacturers expect consumers to use household outlets only as a last resort. … Read more

Coulomb Technologies on Wednesday said it will build 4,600 electric-vehicle charging stations in nine regions of the U.S., funded by $37 million in grants.

More than half of the charging stations in the program, called ChargePoint America, will go in public locales, such as overnight parking spaces, offices, or retail centers. About 2,000 are going into people's homes as part of the purchase of an electric vehicle.

The goal of the ChargePoint network and others like it is to make electric vehicles more accessible to consumers, as these cars come to market in the coming months, … Read more

The city of San Francisco is installing three EV (electric vehicle) charging stations across the street from city hall as part of a two-year pilot project to promote electric vehicle use, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday at a press conference.

The Smartlet Networked Charging Stations supplied by Coulomb Technologies will serve hybrid electric plug-in vehicles from Zipcar, City CarShare, and the city's municipal fleet, according to a statement from the mayor's office.

Because the EVs will be readily available for daily rental, skeptics and enthusiasts alike will have a chance to see what it's like to drive an electric car for a day.… Read more