The Nationwide Network of Electric Vehicle Recharge Stations is Growing - Across the United States, thousands of electric vehicle recharge stations are going up in public places as well as shopping mall parking lots as more and more consumers make the switch from gasoline to hybrid and electric. More than one million electric vehicles will be on the road by 2015, with estimates as high as 27 to 31 million by 2020, according to automakers.
"An electric vehicle is just right for 90 percent of all drivers, who rarely travel more than 150 miles per day from their homes," said S. Monte Kase, head designer, builder and racer of EV Concepts.
Simon Property Group, the largest retail real estate property company in the United States has installed a dozen recharge stations at malls in Florida to California. The newest recharge stations are going up at nine Simon malls in the Chicago suburbs.
The stations are self-service and easy to operate, according to Simon Property Group spokesman Les Morris. Charging will be free for an introductory time period, and then a nominal fee will be assessed, he said. The company’s goal is to quell “range anxiety” that electric car owners may feel about traveling to the outlet mall to shop.
A typical charging station costs between $5,000 and $15,000. U.S. Department of Energy grant money is subsidizing the Simon Mall installations, as well as thousands of recharge stations being installed by municipalities across the nation.
Los Angeles-based company 350Green, which builds and operates the stations, has more than 1,100 stations under contract. “It’s coming — the demand is there,” said David Goodridge, vice president of sales for 350Green. “Our role is to act as a corridor for the technology.”
The Electric Drive Battery and Component Manufacturing Initiative
“I don’t want to have to import a hybrid car. I want to build a hybrid car here.” – President Obama said Aug. 5th 2009, when he announced the $2.4 billion Electric Drive Battery and Component Manufacturing Initiative as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that includes 48 grants administered by the US Department of Energy (DOE).
The biggest individual grant, at $299 million, went to Johnson Controls, a Holland, Mich., firm that has struck a deal with Ford to provide batteries for future vehicles. The second biggest grant, at $249 million, went to startup A123 Systems, a Romulus, Mich., company with links to Chrysler.
It’s significant for A123Systems since the program’s goal of getting technology into large-scale production within 2-3 years and the requirement for awardees to share costs tends to tilt the scales away from younger ventures. A123 has requested as much as $438 million but the $249 million grant could help bring the GE Energy Financial Services’ backed company closer to its long-planned IPO.
The Big Three automakers will also receive the grants. GM is receiving 3 grants totaling $241.4 million, Ford will get 2 grants totaling $92.7 million and Chrysler will get 1 grant of $70 million.
You can view a list at WSJ here or the full original DOE list here.
The biggest individual grant, at $299 million, went to Johnson Controls, a Holland, Mich., firm that has struck a deal with Ford to provide batteries for future vehicles. The second biggest grant, at $249 million, went to startup A123 Systems, a Romulus, Mich., company with links to Chrysler.
It’s significant for A123Systems since the program’s goal of getting technology into large-scale production within 2-3 years and the requirement for awardees to share costs tends to tilt the scales away from younger ventures. A123 has requested as much as $438 million but the $249 million grant could help bring the GE Energy Financial Services’ backed company closer to its long-planned IPO.
The Big Three automakers will also receive the grants. GM is receiving 3 grants totaling $241.4 million, Ford will get 2 grants totaling $92.7 million and Chrysler will get 1 grant of $70 million.
You can view a list at WSJ here or the full original DOE list here.
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The future is here and it's Electric!
1 comment:
Well, the big three automakers (GM, Ford and Chrysler)got grant money to make improvements and buy equipment that supports electric vehicle production, and it was a lot more money than was needed and does not have to be repaid. But already, A123 battery -- a company praised by both Presidents Bush and Obama -- has filed bankruptcy basically because the Chevy Volt contract fell through. The American company decided to purchase less expensive electric batteries from a company that has been in business longer in South Korea.
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