Posted on 11/27/2010 6:31:40 PM PST by Jet Jaguar
No workers yet have vehicles that need them, but company hopes to enable greener commuting.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. has installed three electric vehicle charging stations at its office campus in Southwest Austin, the company said Tuesday.
The stations are the company's effort to support workers who might want to buy electric cars and plug-in hybrid vehicles that are coming to market.
No AMD employees currently drive such vehicles to work, but several have expressed an interest, said Justin Murrill, the company's global sustainability manager.
"We wanted to have these charging stations so that our employees could have the confidence to seriously consider an electric vehicle purchase," Murrill said.
AMD said the stations cost a total of $31,000, but there is a 50 percent federal tax credit that applies.
Initially, the stations will be available only to employees. The company will pay for the electricity cost.
AMD's action fits with an announced plan by Austin Energy, the city's electric utility, to pay for a series of charging stations in the city to promote the use of green vehicles.
AMD used Coulomb Technologies Inc. as the supplier for its charging stations. The ChargePoint stations will be mapped on the Internet to support electric vehicle owners who need a battery charge. Owners can click on Coulomb's website to get a map of all its charging stations in the country and which ones are in use.
The company, which is considered a leader in making charging stations, said it has shipped about 1,000 since last year and has plans for many more. The cost of its public charging stations start at about $6,000 each. It takes about four to six hours to charge a vehicle with a 240-volt charging station connection, the company said.
Much of the interest in such stations comes from the plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt and the electric Nissan Leaf, which will soon be available. More than a dozen other similar vehicles are planned to be built in the next few years.
More technological graffiti from the Left.
I wonder if the shareholders would have approved the expense.
When I ‘HAD’ a job, I asked the boss if he would let me charge an electric car at work (if I had one).
HELL NO, was his answer!
Re-charging stations for cars no one drives. How much did it cost AMD to build them?
50% gov’t bribe
Free large green Kool-Aid with every fill-up.
That assumes there is going to be a demand for electrified Yugos.
Austin? That may be the one place in TX where people will drive those glorified go-karts.
AMD's stock price is about the same as it was 30 years ago.
I wonder if the shareholders would have approved the expense.
I doubt it. The taxpayers are picking up half the cost of this stunt, and I doubt many of them approved either.
“AMD said the stations cost a total of $31,000, but there is a 50 percent federal tax credit that applies.”
Sure is easy to spend that OP money!
In other words, AMD pockets $16,000 for three stations that will never see a car. Not a bad little profit!
Maybe AMD should get back to making chips instead of participating in political pandering and Intel wouldn’t be kicking their sorry asses so hard.
Well they got featured in a national news story for $15,000. Pretty cheap for advertising.
Well, I cant imagine anyone driving one of these things on I-35 in august.
Yup. Lefty pandering can be profitable. They didn’t say they were doing it for free.
If its around town, the electric car is practical despite its limitations. If you want to drive more than an hour some place, that’s another story altogether.
Hey, speaking of Austin, do you know the difference between Texas U and San Diego State U?
San Diego State is bowl eligible. :)
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