Recode.net: BMW and Volkswagen are teaming up to create nearly 100 new fast-charging stations for electric vehicles along heavily-traveled roads along the East and West coasts of the United States.
The automakers are working with Chargepoint, the world’s largest network of electrical vehicle charging stations, as part of an initiative to encourage the purchase of electric vehicles in the U.S.
Along the Eastern Seaboard, the charging stations will be located at points along Interstate 95 from Boston to Washington, D.C. On the West Coast, they’ll be located in and between four cities: San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Portland, Ore. No two stations will be any more than 50 miles apart, the companies said. Construction has already begun on the West Coast, and the first location will be near San Diego.
Each station will be equipped with at least two DC Fast Chargers, with the 50 kilowatt version typically charging a car’s battery up to 80 percent of capacity within about 20 minutes. A 24 kW DC Fast charger can do the same in about 30 minutes. The stations will also be equipped with Level 2 chargers, the most common type of charger currently compatible with most electric vehicles on the road. These chargers can deliver 25 miles of range for every hour of charging.
Americans have purchased fewer than 300,000 electric cars since 2008. An estimate by Hybridcars.com, which tracks the sales of electrical and hybrid vehicles, pegged the domestic sales of plug-in electric cars at just over 63,000 units last year out of more than 16 million cars sold nationwide. More than 40 percent of those on U.S. roads are in California.
The automakers are working with Chargepoint, the world’s largest network of electrical vehicle charging stations, as part of an initiative to encourage the purchase of electric vehicles in the U.S.
Along the Eastern Seaboard, the charging stations will be located at points along Interstate 95 from Boston to Washington, D.C. On the West Coast, they’ll be located in and between four cities: San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Portland, Ore. No two stations will be any more than 50 miles apart, the companies said. Construction has already begun on the West Coast, and the first location will be near San Diego.
Each station will be equipped with at least two DC Fast Chargers, with the 50 kilowatt version typically charging a car’s battery up to 80 percent of capacity within about 20 minutes. A 24 kW DC Fast charger can do the same in about 30 minutes. The stations will also be equipped with Level 2 chargers, the most common type of charger currently compatible with most electric vehicles on the road. These chargers can deliver 25 miles of range for every hour of charging.
Americans have purchased fewer than 300,000 electric cars since 2008. An estimate by Hybridcars.com, which tracks the sales of electrical and hybrid vehicles, pegged the domestic sales of plug-in electric cars at just over 63,000 units last year out of more than 16 million cars sold nationwide. More than 40 percent of those on U.S. roads are in California.
