This is an excerpt from EERE Network News, a weekly electronic newsletter.

November 28, 2012

EV Charging Stations Take Off Across America

Three years ago, the Energy Department announced an unprecedented series of Transportation Electrification projects under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Since that time, we have seen an acceleration of the manufacturing and deployment of plug-in electric vehicles, batteries, and components in America. And because of advancements in technology and increased manufacturing, battery costs have shrunk by 50%. More recently, the Department launched the EV-Everywhere Grand Challenge, a national initiative to reduce the cost and increase the convenience of electric vehicles. Easy access to charging stations will be key to meeting these goals, and thanks to companies like ChargePoint, finding a charging station is getting more convenient than ever.

ChargePoint recently finished installing 4,600 U.S.-manufactured Level 2 charging stations in residential and commercial locations across the United States as part of its ChargePoint America Program, which was supported with a $15 million grant from the Energy Department and dollar-for-dollar matches by ChargePoint. Level 2 chargers typically add 10-20 miles to the range of the electric vehicle per hour of charging. The company also worked with vehicle manufacturers Chevrolet, Ford, BMW, and Nissan to provide home charging station hardware at no cost to their customers in exchange for collecting operational data from the charging station. For the complete story, see the Energy Blog.