San Francisco Bay Area gets $5 million for EV chargers, Detroit will charge $40 per month

Electric vehicles are inching closer, with several already priced and rearing to go, but so far would-be owners won't have to pay for the devices to charge their cars. Free charging stations are popping up at every red dot on this map, and apparently not satisfied with the 1,600 that Coulomb's installing in California and the three at City Hall, San Francisco and neighboring cities have just approved $5 million for over 5,000 more chargers -- of which only 50 will appear along public highways, for some reason. Meanwhile, the state of Michigan has approved the first standardized rate for EV charger use -- a pilot program by provider DTE Energy will see 2,500 customers paying $40 per vehicle per month (or a variable off-peak rate) through December 2012. Gotta wonder how those grey states are feeling right about now.

[hprox Posted Aug 15th 2010 10:12AM]

@onecallednick

1. Quick charge stations (level 3) will only be available at commercial sites due to their rate of amperage. Therefore your home charge will require an install of a dedicated circuit and will require 8 hours to charge. Imagine having an electric dryer and running it for 8 hours every night.That's what you'll be doing. Essentially your electric bill will double when you by a $40,000 electric car. After you spend $2,500 to have an electrician run a dedicated 220 amp circuit.
3. You won't let us build anymore coal plants to supply the extra demand that our existing 60 year old coal plants will have to supply.
4. Tell me, how many acres of land will you need for wind power or solar to replace 1 coal plant. Then multiply that by the number of coal plants in this country. Again I say, there is never going to be a method or resource in our lifetime that will ever replace the capacity that coal and oil produce for the demand of the world. No matter how much money you throw at it. Here is the harsh reality of wind farms:
http://www.aweo.org/problemwithwind.html

[aztek Posted Aug 12th 2010 12:24PM]

I don't get this map. In Portland, OR we have power stations installed downtown. Not many, but they are there. Why is OR gray?

[onecallednick Posted Aug 12th 2010 2:12PM]

@aztek Amen, I live in Eugene, and at Lane Community College (less than a mile from I-5) We're almost finished building a SOLAR EV CHARGING STATION. Now, does that sound like something a GREY state would do?

[bryoneill11 Posted Aug 12th 2010 12:40PM]

Are you nervous oil gas companies???

[T0astedP0Ptart Posted Aug 12th 2010 7:25PM]

"Gotta wonder how those grey states are feeling right about now."
They all look pretty grey to me