Charging Infrastructure

Coulomb announced a new CT500 Level II ChargePoint® Networked Charging Stations are designed for home and light commercial use. The announcement expands Coulomb’s spectrum of products for EVs from home to Level III fast charging stations. The ChargePoint Network is based on an open interface, standards-based architecture that provides station owners with a complete set of business applications to market and bill for electric transportation fueling services, and provides drivers with EV charging applications to make fueling easy. The home charging announcement is timely. Nissan has received over 16,000 deposits for the LEAF, including one from me. We are getting recommendations to have Aerovironment inspect our garages and plan on average installation costs of $2,000 including electrical work. GE recently entered the smart charging competition with the GE WattStation and will soon announce its home charger.

Pike Research forecasts 4.7 million charge points for electric cars will be installed worldwide from 2010 to 2015. Pike forecasts that by 2015, more than 3.1 million EVs, including plug-in hybrids and all-electric vehicles, will be sold worldwide. Pike Research’s indicates that competition from infrastructure providers will intensify by the end of 2011. Leading the first 20,000 U.S. charge point installations are AeroVironment, Better Place, Coulomb Technologies, and ECOtality. GE, Panasonic, Samsung, and Siemens are moving into the space with hardware and network services.

Nissan announced U.S. pricing for the 2011 Nissan LEAF electric car, which becomes available for purchase or lease at Nissan dealers in select markets in December and nationwide in 2011. Nissan will begin taking consumer reservations for the Nissan LEAF April 20. Including the $7,500 federal tax credit, the consumer’s after-tax net value of the vehicle will be $25,280. Additionally, there is an array of state and local incentives that may further defray the costs and increase the benefits of owning and charging. Nissan will also offer a monthly lease payment beginning at $349.