Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Increasing

Electric Vehicles are getting more charging locations across the United States and around the world.

Public electric vehicle charging stations that take credit card went on-line in November at San Francisco's Pier 27 parking garage. Drivers can use a credit card to charge their electric vehicles. The cost to charge a vehicle all day is normally between two to three dollars.

The first public EV charging station opened this month in Kansas. Last month Minnesota launched it's first EV charging station in St. Paul at First National Bank. The power to charge the vehicles comes from wind & solar energy generation. Plans are for 150 of the stations to be in place in the Twin Cities area in four years.

First Nissan Leaf Delivered Today

The first all electric Nissan LEAF is delivered today in Northern California.

The Leaf is, as Nissan states "A car with no oil, no gas tank, no transmission, no tailpipe.
A car that runs on 100% electricity..." Unlike GM's soon-to-arrive Volt, or Toyota's well-established hybrids, the Leaf has no gasoline engine. As part of the ownership, the purchaser gets a personal "Filling Station" at their home to charge the car overnight. See the video.

Public charging stations for electric vehicles are already in some businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area. A list of charging stations can be found HERE.

Nissan has taken 20,000 reservations for the Leaf. All the major manufacturers (and some you probaly have never heard of) have electric vehicles in development.

First Chevy Volt Auctioned for Detroit Schools

DETROIT – The first Chevrolet Volt available for retail sale will be offered at public auction with the proceeds benefiting math and sciences education in the Detroit Public Schools.

Honda Presents Plug-in Hybrid at LA Auto Show

Honda's platform's lithium-Ion battery, plug-in capability, hybrid function and petrol combustion engine to provide clean performance. See the video of the Honda Plug-in Hybrid platform HERE:

Hard Economic Realities for Hybrids

Bloomberg.com, after interviews and research has brought some harsh realities of the market & economics of hybrids. I personally own a hybrid (Toyota Highlander), and am usually positive in my reports, but to honestly report reality, I have to report the research and expert interviews.

Bloomberg quotes a J.D. Powers Director of Forecasting:

At some point, the reality is that for this technology to be accepted, it needs to be done without a government crutch,” said Jeff Schuster, director of forecasting at J.D. Power & Associates in Troy, Michigan. “But without a huge gas-price increase or further government demand, the natural demand just isn’t to be there.

J.D. Power also reports "Global sales of hybrids, plug-in hybrids and electric cars are projected to be 954,500 vehicles, or 2.2 percent of the 44.7 million passenger vehicles projected to be sold this year, J.D. Power said in an Oct. 27 report. That may rise to 5.2 million units in 2020..."

Others interviewed in the article were concerned that government subsidies seem to be needed to make economic sense for consumers. The article states that "The government purchased about 64 percent of GM’s Chevy Malibu hybrid models and 29 percent of all Ford Fusion hybrids manufactured since Obama took office in 2009, the data show. GM stopped making the Malibu hybrid in 2009 after lack of consumer demand."

Bloomberg.com also quotes Dan Becker, Director of the Safe Climate Campaign with a positive view of the US government's alternative fuel vehicle purchases:
“At a time when we’re just beginning the era of the hybrid, it’s a positive sign that the government is stepping up to the plate and helping build that market.”

The article states that the Obama administration is promising over $11 billion in taxpayer funds to develop plug-in hybrid vehicles.

ATT Fleet To Increase Alternative Vehicles

AT&T plans to purchase 15,000 alternative fuel vehicles over next 10 years. The purchases will include hybrid and compressed natural gas (CNG).

See the AT&T video HERE:

New Website for Plug-in Electric Vehicles

Southern California Edison today announces a website for plug-in electric vehicles (PEV).


It has tips for cities for working with electric vehicles, for perspective buyers on shopping for PEV, and preparing your home for a PEV.

See it HERE.