With the shift towards electric cars still apparent, the buck doesn’t stop there. Apparently the need to properly monitor that charging of vehicles will somehow become a need in the near future and Ford is getting its act ready for such a scenario. And to spearhead their efforts, Ford launches the Intelligent Charging System for hybrid cars which will allow cars to communicate with the electrical grids.

Under this scenario, the driver or the car owner can easily control the charging station and choose when the car charges, how long it takes and at the rate it charges. Similar to how most motorists are trying to control their fuel consumption, this device aims to control the electric consumption of cars for a longer and smoother ride.

This Ford Intelligent Charging System will first show up in the all-electric Transit Connect commercial van and then the Focus Hybrid in 2011.

(Source) Slashgear

Tags: car owner, charging station, charging system, electric cars, electric consumption, electric transit, electrical grids, Ford, fuel consumption, hybrid cars, motorists

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Toyota has announced that in a stint to continue their 2010 Prius promotion they will place several giant sun flowers, pictured above. The first being in Boston then expanding to New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco later on.

These giant sun flowers will feature solar panels that will provide users with power outlets to charge things such as their laptops and cellphones. Along with that, the giant flowers will provide free WiFi access to the surrounding area.

via Autoblog

Tags: charging station, Prius, promotion, solar panel, sun flower, Toyota, WiFi

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McDonalds hasn’t decided to start selling gas, especially with the nasty economy. But the company is thinking about your car. Actually I bet McDonalds is considering ways to determine how to get you to spend as much time as possible inside their restaurants. How will they do that? Well it looks like while you eat, your electric car is going to receive its precious energy free of charge in McDonalds’s parking lot. The first restaurant to offer this incentive is located in Cary, NC, and it will be able to charge your electric car starting July 14th. Ric Richards had this to say:

The networked grid-friendly charging stations are a perfect complement to the many innovative green features of the restaurant. Our customers will have a dedicated place to park and recharge their vehicles. McDonalds is enabling a better environment for future generations by supporting zero-emissions transportation infrastructure, through the use of the ChargePointSM Network.

Will such a move convince you to purchase your first electric car? Will you eat more at McDonalds after that?
(more…)

Tags: Alternative Energy, charging station, Electric, mcdonalds

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Hillsoboro has announced that they will be installing 16 charging stations in the state of Oregon. These charging stations will be supplied by Coulomb Technologies, the leader in charging station infrastructure which will be situated in key locations for the preparation of the expected demand for plug-in and electric vehicles.

The 16 charging stations will be installed in downtown Hillsboro including their new “green” intermodal transit facility to be built in 2009. The charging stations, available for public use, are part of the city’s large-scale sustainability and green movement, designed to showcase conservation, environmentalism and eco-friendly design.

The ChargePoint Network enabled charging stations provide:

• A revenue stream to pay for electricity, capital equipment and maintenance
• The ability for drivers to find unoccupied charging stations via web-enabled cell phones
• Notification by SMS Text or email when charging is complete
• Authenticated access to eliminate energy theft
• Authorized energizing for safety
• Remote monitoring and diagnostics for superior quality of service
• Smart Grid integration for utility load management with future V2G capabilities

(Source) Press

Tags: capabilities, cell phones, charging station, coulomb, electric vehicle, electric vehicles, electricity, email, energy theft, hillsboro oregon, large scale, load management, quality of service, remote monitoring, revenue stream, showcase, state of oregon, sustainability, transit facility

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For the electric car owners of now and tomorrow, you don’t have to worry about running short on energy. Thanks to this potential concept by GreenlightAC, electric-vehicle charging stations may soon be spread over Washington D.C.

Called the ChargeBar, GreenlightAC is on the verge of closing a $500,000 investment to release a prototype of this latest modern day car charging station. As far as location is concerned, the company is eyeing local garages for office and residential buildings. Greenlight AC will handle all installation and maintenance of the said charging stations.

GreenlightAC hasn’t said exactly where the first ChargeBars will show up, but they’ll start to be installed in the Washington metro area in the third quarter of this year, with future installations potentially expanding to other parts of the Mid-Atlantic region. The company told the Washington Business Journal that it expects to sell 350 of its charging stations by the end of next year.

(Source) Earth2Tech

Tags: car owners, charging station, electric car, electric vehicle, garages, Prototype, residential buildings

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Nissan seems very interested in making electric cars in the future but for these to sell successfully it really needs cities to be prepared, electrically speaking, to get the new cars. Probably nobody in their right mind would buy an electric vehicle without knowing that the city has the much needed infrastructure to power it.

That’s why Nissan has been signing partnerships with various cities around to world to get those city-wide charging stations installed. The last city on Nissan’s list is Seattle. Not only will Seattle be ready for electric cars but the city gets its power through lots of renewable means which will make the future Nissan cars even more eco-friendlier.

via autobloggreen

Tags: charging station, electric vehicles, fuel, Nissan, Power Station, Seattle

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We’ve just told you how GM has generously made a proposal for a future development of a standard plug destined to charge up electric vehicles. And others have reacted positively. The German energy firm RWA said that quite a few automakers and energy companies have agreed on a three-point, 400-volt plug which will charge cars from all over the world. Curios who agreed with GM? Well there’s obscure names like VW, BMW, Ford, Fiat, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Eon, Vattenfall, EDF, Npower, Endesa and Enel. We should expect prototypes soon, shouldn’t we?

Tags: charging station, electric cars, General Motoros, Plug

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Chicago is getting ready for the future of electric car charging with the unveiling of the first solar-powered electric vehicle charging station in the City of Chicago. Located and operational at the City of Chicago Department of Fleet Maintenance, it was one of the focal points of the recent IOC tour on April 5th, 2009 where guests were able to see the nation’s foremost Solar Plug-In Station that was designed to pave the way to fuel plug-in electric vehicles.

It will be used daily by the City of Chicago to fuel the city’s electric vehicles with power from the sun. Carbon Day Automotive is the sole Midwest distributor for Coulomb Technologies ChargePoint™ Networked Charging Stations. When paired with Carbon Day’s Solar Plug-In Station, it is a source of totally renewable and clean energy that addresses the needs of drivers, utilities and governments.

The Carbon Day Automotive Solar Plug-In Station, built by Carbon Day Construction, was designed by the world-renowned firm of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture. Wanxiang America Corporation, dedicated to providing clean energy solutions for municipalities, manufactured the solar panels that form a tree-like canopy built by Residential Steel.

Pure Energy, LLC, Northbrook installed the sculpted piece and interfaced it with the concealed underground battery pack enhanced to store solar energy, specially designed and developed by ALL CELL Technologies, a thermal management and power pack solutions manufacturer. The grid stores the sun’s energy, a renewable resource, to power zero emission electric vehicles.

(Source) Press

Tags: charging station, clean energy, coulomb, electric car, electric vehicle, electric vehicles, energy llc, energy solutions, gordon gill, renewable resource, wanxiang america corporation

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In an effort to broaden and improve the continuous efforts in the development of electric and hybrid cars, FEV, Inc. has announced that it has commissioned the area’s first full Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Development Center (HEVDC) at its Auburn Hills campus.

The HEVDC was developed over a period of two years, with the final phase, the installation of a dedicated chassis dynamometer for hybrid and electric vehicle testing, which will be completed in March. FEV invested approximately $8 million into development of the HEVDC, which became fully operational with the installation of the vehicle chassis dyno.

The HEVDC, which is the North American part of FEV’s worldwide competence in hybrid & EV, is an evolution of FEV’s extensive development efforts in the areas of hybrid and electric vehicles, and is fully capable of facilitating the development of all propulsion technologies related to tomorrow’s vehicles. Enabling technology includes:

• Hybrid powertrain test cells
• Hybrid/EV transmission test rigs
• Electric Motor test rigs
• Hybrid & Electric Vehicle Chassis Dyno
• Electric Charging Station for PHEVs and EVs

FEV anticipates an increase in staffing to accommodate the activity level of the HEVDC, including the addition of highly specialized engineering and technical personnel.

(Source) Press

Tags: auburn hills campus, charging station, chassis dynamometer, chassis dyno, electric vehicles, hybrid development, hybrid electric vehicle, hybrid powertrain, motor test, technical personnel, test rigs, transmission test

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