Posted on 11/25/2010 10:47:28 PM PST by Jet Jaguar
The electric movement is still well underway, and for companies like NRG Energy, it takes a huge investment to make sure that it sticks around. Teaming up with Walgreens may seem like an unorthodox move to some, but apparently NRG Energy believes that choosing 18 locations across Houston and Harris County in Texas is a safe bet for seeing some return on their investment.
The eVgo Network, from NRG Energy, is one of the first commercial electric-vehicle-charging networks in the United States, and they will initially feature over 100 charging stations throughout the US. The total investment from the company is estimated in the $10 million region. It will initially launch with 18 locations within Houston, and the Harris County region. You’ll be able to find the rapid charging EV stations at Walgreens locations.
The first roll-out will begin in 2011, and each location will feature two different kinds of chargers. The first will be a Level-2 charging station, which will take about four hours to charge an electric vehicle to full capacity. And then there’s the rapid chargers, which should do the job in about 30 minutes. If you’re in the area beginning in 2011, and you’ve been waiting to get a charging station in your area, thanks to NRG Energy, that’s about to come to fruition.
Houston and Harris counties are huge liberal counties, so there is no surprise with this story.
From what I have read here and elswhere, rapid charging shortens the lifespan of the battery and, eventually, reduces the capacity of the battery.
“seem like an unorthodox move to some”
Some highschoolers need an editor.
Indeed.
Because of that, I may have to watch that film again...
Well, it’s bound not to extend it ... but, with proper monitoring (temp most importantly and maybe even pressure and cell or battery voltage rate-of-rise) a reasonable trade-off can be made ...
Free green Kool-Aid with every fill-up.
I am yet to see how much these charging stations will charge for a charge.
Indeed. Also, someone comes along and unplugs your car and charges theirs...unless you want to set-up a lawn chair next to your car and guard it while it charges.
Radio Shack sells adapters for everything.
Somehow, I do not see that level of sophistication at what amounts to a public outlet. A public outlet that will be treated about as well as a pay phone.What do you do for a living? Is it at all related to high-tech or electronics?
And how many electric cars are in those counties?
Exactly... A green fantasy that has failure written all over it. Enforcing parking meter times has not been perfected after over 100 years (Cincinnati just raised parking meter fees from $2 an hour to $4 an hour... but if you push a button, you get 10 minutes free!)
battery charging supervision chip sets (also known as Power Management IC's)
Usually as part of the battery itself, more true perhaps with laptop batts ... and you're saying that this isn't the case with vehicle batteries and their charging supervision circuits, chip sets (incl uP based battery supervision chips/chip sets)?
Okay ...
Liberals like to saddle our landscape with the equivalent of technological graffiti.
I can hear the phone conversation now:
“Where the heck are you?”
“I’m at the Walgreens recharging my Volt.”
“Well, how long is that going to take?”
“Oh, about four hours. You want anything while I’m here?”
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