EV charging options accelerate at home and on the road

Quick take – Lowe's will be selling GE charging stations at stores in California. But the announcement doesn't say how the two companies will handle the most important issue -- the installation. Few homes have a 240-volt plug in the garage, so most people will have to hire an electrician. We hope and assume that Lowe's and GE will have teams of certified installers signed up so homeowners don't have to shop around on their own. – By Jesse Berst

With Plug-In 2011 Conference under way in Raleigh, N.C. this week, there are a lot of announcements from the EV charging world, including news from GE that it soon be selling its GE WattStation wall mount EV charging units in Lowe's hardware stores. They'll start out in five stores in California next month, increasing the number to 60 in September when the charging stations will also be available online from Lowes.com. GE's wall-mount unit is a Level 2 charger that can be installed in an EV user’s garage or outdoors. It operates on a 208-240VAC circuit for Level 2 charging, which means it can fully charge an EV in four to eight hours.

Some other announcements on the EV front:

·         Coulomb Technologies and TomTom, a navigational services company, are targeting the range anxiety issue many see as an impediment to EV adoption with an in-car charging station location, navigation and reservation service. At the Plug-In Conference the companies will demonstrate how TomTom's navigation platform can use the open ChargePoint Network Web Services API to help EV drivers find and navigate to the nearest charging station, make a reservation at the charging station and get information about the charging station, for instance connector type, availability, and pricing.

·         Leviton, a New York-based manufacturer of electrical devices, is expanding its line of Evr-Green charging systems with a portable Level 1 charging unit that EV drivers can take with them and plug into any standard 15-amp or 20-amp, 125-volt grounded receptacle. Leviton is also introducing a 160 Level 2 home charging station that provides up to 16 amps at 240 volts AC. Both devices will be available beginning Aug. 1 through Leviton's distribution channel that includes electrical distributors, retail partners and automakers.

Jesse Berst is the founder and chief analyst of Smart Grid News.com. He consults to smart grid companies seeking market entry advice and M&A advisory. A frequent keynoter at industry events in the US and abroad, he also serves on the Advisory Council of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's Energy & Environment directorate.

.

You may also be interested in …

EVs and smart grid integration: Georgia Power's got a plan

SGN's all-things EV channel