Il processo di e-mobility negli USA compie passi da gigante

Aumentano i Rifornimenti per i Veicoli Elettrici negli USA

Compie passi da gigante, negli USA, il processo di e-mobility,  la mobilità che sfrutta i  veicoli elettrici e quelli a energia rinnovabile. Le colonnine di ricarica sono ormai sparse in quasi tutti gli stati della Federazione, anche se la concentrazione maggiore è in California, e il totale tocca quota 1800. Lo ha annunciato il Segretario Generale all’Energia Steven Chu, ribadendo l’importanza del piano varato di recente dal presidente Obama, che prevede investimenti per 400 milioni di dollari, stanziati con l’American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) a favore di progetti per specifiche infrastrutture per la mobilità, sull’esempio dei piani del Coulomb Technologies e di Ecotality. Da sottolineare anche il grande impegno di alcune case automobilistiche intenzionate ad investire nella produzione di veicoli a basso impatto ambientale, come General Motors e Chrysler, controllata da FIAT.

Il punto di rifornimento numero 500 per la ricarica di veicoli elettrici è stato installato a Los Angeles:  si tratta dell’ultima colonnina verde del programma da 37 milioni di dollari di ChargePoint America, finanziato con un fondo da 15 milioni messo a disposizione dal Department of Energy’s Transportation Electrification Initiative. Altri 22 milioni di dollari sono stati concessi da altri enti pubblici, tra cui la Commissione Energia della California, allo scopo di mettere a disposizione dei consumatori, entro l’anno, circa 4.600 punti di ricarica sul territorio statunitense.  In una prima fase, le città scelte per ospitare le nuove colonnine erano Detroit, New York, Orlando, Washington, Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles e Austin.  A queste, nel corso degli ultimi mesi, si sono aggiunti altri sei centri urbani: Baltimora, Tampa, Boston, Santa Barbara, Ventura e Santa Cruz.  “L’espansione della rete ChargePoint di Los Angeles è significativa, perché il nostro è il più grande mercato di auto del mondo e Los Angeles leader riconosciuta negli interventi volti a mantenere l’aria pulita”, ha dichiarato Richard Lowenthal della Coulomb Technologies.
 
Grazie all’ambiziosa iniziativa per la diffusione di massa  del trasporto elettrico,  si prevede che entro il 2013 saranno installati  oltre 22mila punti di ricarica residenziali, commerciali e pubblici a supporto della diffusione di ulteriori 13mila veicoli elettrici.

Richard Lowenthal – Founder and Chief Technical Officer
Richard Lowenthal is the CTO of Coulomb Technologies, which he co-founded in 2007. From 1998 until 2007 he was instrumental in starting several companies, including Lightera, Pipal Systems and Procket Networks. From 1996 to 1997, Mr. Lowenthal was vice president and general manager of Cisco's WAN Access Products Division. From 1990 through 1995, Mr. Lowenthal was vice president of research and development for StrataCom, a telecommunications equipment company. Prior to StrataCom, Mr. Lowenthal was co-founder and vice president of engineering for Stardent Computers, and vice president of engineering for Convergent Technologies. Mr. Lowenthal is also a former Mayor of Cupertino, California, and has been heavily involved in the non-profit world. He has a BS degree in Electrical Engineering from UC Berkeley.

Electric Vehicle Charging Services Arrive in Laguna Beach as Coulomb’s ChargePoint Network Expansion Continues into Southern California

Campbell, Calif., June 21, 2011 Coulomb Technologies today announced electric vehicle (EV) driver services have arrived in downtown Laguna Beach, CA. with the installation of two charging stations for EVs managed by the ChargePoint® Network.  The two new stations are located near the corner of Forest Avenue and Broadway in downtown Laguna Beach.  The stations are the first installation by the City of Laguna Beach and will offer EV charging services as part of the ChargePoint Network, providing drivers EV services including real-time charging station status and reservations.

The charging stations will be unveiled on Tuesday, June 21, 2011 at a 4:00 pm press event that includes members of the Laguna Beach City Council and Mayor Toni Iseman.  A charging demonstration of numerous EVs at the dual-outlet stations includes a Chevrolet Volt, Nissan LEAF and Tesla Roadster.

“Laguna Beach is welcoming electric vehicles into their community by installing these state of the art charging stations,” said Pat Romano, president and CEO at Coulomb.  “Residents and visitors alike can now easily and conveniently fuel their vehicles in downtown.  As more and more EVs arrive in Southern California, these stations will attract new visitors.”

At this time, charging an electric vehicle at the new stations is free for four hours per day.  After the four-hour limit, the vehicle must be moved to allow other vehicles to use the stations. The ChargePoint Network expansion into Laguna Beach brings EV drivers easy-to-use unique charging services including the ability to: check real-time status and location of unoccupied charging stations, reserve a charging station, track and report greenhouse gas and gasoline savings, and receive charging status notifications by SMS, email or smart phone (iPhone and Blackberry) applications. Coulomb’s ChargePoint Network is open to all drivers of plug-in vehicles and all manufacturers of electric vehicle charging stations.  All electric vehicle owners are encouraged to try out the new charging stations.

The charging equipment is provided through a grant from the United States Department of Energy, and installation was paid for by the City.  The stations represent a commitment by the City for a sustainable future and transportation diversity.  The stations are a part of Coulomb’s $37 million ChargePoint America program, which offers thousands of free EV charging stations for public and home charging to individuals and businesses.  The charging stations were supplied by Coulomb regional distributor Clean Fuel Connection, which used contractor Linc Group for installation.

Coulomb’s ChargePoint America program will provide nearly 5,000 charging stations to program participants in ten regions in the United States: Austin, Texas, Boston, Los Angeles, New York, Orlando/Tampa, Sacramento, Calif., San Jose/San Francisco Bay Area, Redmond/Bellevue, Wash., Washington DC/Baltimore, Southern Michigan (including Grand Rapids, Lansing, Ann Arbor, Detroit).  The program is a strategic partnership between Coulomb and three leading automobile brands: Ford, Chevrolet and smart USA.  Coulomb currently has the largest established base of networked charging stations worldwide with more than 4000 systems shipped to more than 700 customers. Installation of the ChargePoint charging stations is currently underway in all regions. Businesses interested in free public ChargePoint stations can visit http://www.chargepointamerica.com to apply.

About ChargePoint America
The $37 million ChargePoint America program is made possible by a $15M grant funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act through the Transportation Electrification Initiative administered by the Department of Energy. ChargePoint America will provide 4,600 public and home ChargePoint Networked Charging Stations by October 2011, adding to the existing ChargePoint Network. Coulomb will work together with its distribution and industry partners to evaluate the demand from the respective geographic regions and allocate charging stations based on this and other factors. The ChargePoint America project will collect data characterizing vehicle use and charging patterns. Idaho National Labs will analyze the data.  www.chargepointamerica.com

About Coulomb Technologies, Inc.
Coulomb Technologies is the leader in electric vehicle charging solutions, with charging systems and application services delivered by the ChargePoint Network.  The ChargePoint Network provides multiple web-based portals for Hosts, Fleet Managers, Drivers, and Utilities.  The open-system driver network went live in January 2009 and now operates in 14 countries with Network Operations Centers in the U.S., UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany and Hong Kong.  Coulomb’s ChargePoint Networked Charging Stations range from 120 to 240 VAC charging up to 500 Volt DC fast charging with more than 4000 stations shipped worldwide. 

For more info:
http://www.coulombtech.com/
http://www.coulombtech.com/pr/news-press-releases-2011-0621.php