Free Republic

If you were going to run a pilot project that deploys charging stations in a network to enhance the use of electric vehicles, what kind of establishments would you locate them at? Whose customers might be most interested in that amenity? Certainly Starbucks comes to mind, as might sustainability-crazy Walmart – but how about Cracker Barrel? It’s true, the down-home chain of Old Country Store restaurants was chosen by Ecotality for a practice run in Tennessee as part of The EV Project, which is funded with a $115 million Department of Energy grant to create infrastructure to support EVs...

The fossil fuel industry is cashing in on the $7.5 billion for electric vehicle (EV) charging stations that President Joe Biden approved in the Inflation Reduction Act, lobbying to have the stations built at existing gas station locations. Politico‘s Energy & Environment News reported: More than half of the charging stations being built so far from the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law are rising at truck stops and gasoline stations, according to data exclusively provided to E&E News by EVAdoption, an EV data consultancy. In essence, the law’s $7.5 billion pot for charging is reinforcing the very fossil-fuel infrastructure that the...

One of the nation's major oil companies says it will close 1,000 gas stations. Shell made the announcement in its 2024 Energy Transition Strategy report, saying the measure is “in response to customer needs” and aimed at reallocating those resources towards EV charging stations. Shell said it will close 500 stations in 2024 and the other 500 in 2025. “We believe growth in oil demand is set to slow in the second half of this decade and could start falling in the 2030s because of increasing vehicle efficiency and growth in electric vehicles," the company stated in the report. "Today...