Two miles.
Posted on 11/25/2010 9:30:47 PM PST by Jet Jaguar
RALEIGH -- The city introduced two electric-car charging stations Tuesday, the first of many sprouting up across Raleigh as electric and hybrid cars become more common. Officials showcased the recharging stations in front of City Hall on Hargett Street. A third station is scheduled to be installed near the convention center next week.
The plan is for Raleigh to have at least 30 stations by September, most of them downtown in public parking garages or near N.C. State University's Centennial Campus. Those will be part of a bigger wave that will bring more than 350 recharging stations to North Carolina, most of them financed by federal stimulus money.
Raleigh's efforts are part of a partnership the city formed last year with Indianapolis and Portland, Ore. Mayor Charles Meeker said the move will make Raleigh a leader in electric vehicles in the Southeast.
"We're trying to get ahead of this, but also trying to anticipate consumer demand," Meeker said. "There are a lot of people interested in green activities right now, and this is certainly one of them."
The recharging stations, with 9-foot cords, will provide free electricity, though drivers will need to pay the parking meter.
The parking spaces in front of City Hall are not reserved for drivers with electric cars, so anyone will be able to use them for now.
Meeker said the pods are meant for drivers who fully charge their cars at home but want to recharge for an hour or two to get a few extra miles of power while they're downtown.
Raleigh's initial stations are being donated by Eaton Corp., an Ohio-based company with operations throughout the Triangle and the state. They would have cost about $3,000 each had thecity paid for them, said Nelson Daniels, Raleigh's sustainability technician.
Assistant City Manager Julian Prosser said the company's offer to donate its technology helped Eaton's product get selected for the initial rollout.
Auto technology companies are eager to have their products on Raleigh streets by summer, when the city will host the annual electric car conference of the Electric Power Research Institute, a nonprofit, utility-industry think tank.
The Triangle is seen as a future proving ground for electric and hybrid vehicles. NCSU installed a station on its Centennial Campus this year so prospective students can take campus tours in an electric car.
City of Raleigh staffers use 10 hybrid cars for city work, and they expect to get 10 additional electric cars next year.
Like I said, for now the hybrid is the only viable alternative fuel vehicle. When there is a viable battery technology on the market, then the electric car will have a future.
Magic money from Obummer’s stash.
Yep. Ironic, no?
Yeah I can see homeless folks running portable heaters from these outlets to stay warm. And there’s plenty of room to set up a mini cooking range.
Fuel cells are a better way to go. long term. Only minutes to fill the hydrogen tank and no battery pack to replace. The trick is lowering the price of producing hydrogen.
Don’t forget natural gas vehicles. The US is awash in natural gas.
If they solve the problem of transporting liquefied hydrogen and they build the infrastructure to store it, fuel cell cars could be viable one day. Right now that doesn’t exist so its better for the auto industry to make a viable electric car. The Chevy Volt isn’t it.
Spot on. Imagine people returning to there cars thinking that they have been charging while they were at work only to find some homeless folks warming themselves with provised electric heating devices.
Fuel cells can also generate power from hydrocarbons. I read some industry journals a few years ago showing that a fuel cell can generate electricty from natural gas and gasoline. A stop gap measure while the industry develops underground storage tanks for hydrogen and the best means to deliver hydrogen to the fuel stations. The fule cell car is an electric car without the heavy battery pack and long charge times.
their cars, not there cars. Damn tukey induced sleepiness.
Not only that. All these electric cars ACTUALLY run on COAL......or nuclear power if the juice happens to come from a nuclear generating facility. I’ve seen the new GE commercials flacking these charging stations and singing their praises. Since GE has been in bed with the BHO administration, those charging stations, with a GE logo on them, will likely be paid for by you and me and our fellow-taxpayers; for which we get squat in return for our money......unless we want to buy a Dolt or one of the other electric vehicles!
Two miles.
Yeah, but I thought the coal powered electricity generating plants produced these emissions:
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Um. So where is the "free electricity" coming from and who is "donating" it? I'd like to get me some of that "free electricity" action. I was always taught that you don't get anything for free so this is new to me.
The best battery technology available for hybrids is lithium ion rechargeable batteries. No one bothered to check that the total amount of lithium mined each year in the world will support the manufacturing of enough battery packs to support 60,000 vehicles annually. That is assuming none will be available for other lithium ion battery users such as cellphones, laptop computers and other consumer electronics. It would also mean our DoD will not have lithium sulfur dioxide throwaway batteries constantly used by our soldiers to keep weight down and operate in extreme cold temperatures where battery chargers/AC is not gauranteed to be available. Technologists tend to not grasp the concept of logistics and commodity data in their business models. That is why many green technologies fail to come to fruition or mass production.
I have seen that same commercial. I am amused by the part where they plug in their car outdoors during a rainstorm.
Bingo. Also, Lithium mining and processing aren’t exactly “green” activities.
Liberals believe batteries are somehow superior to fossil fuel as an energy source. This isn’t based on science but on an emotional belief that electric power is “cleaner” than a fossil fuel derived one. Ironically enough, fossil fuel is a natural resource, a concept liberals have yet to grasp.
Indeed. Also, fossil fuels are about as organic as it gets. Old dead trees and algae.
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