Greentech Lead America: CambridgeSide Galleria will offer
complimentary charging services for electric vehicle drivers inside their
parking garage.
The charging services are a part of Coulomb Technologies
ChargePoint Network, a network of independently owned charging stations in the
world.
CambridgeSide’s charging stations, located on Level A of
the parking garage, are made possible via a partnership between the mall and
the City of Cambridge and were funded by a Department of Energy federal grant.
CambridgeSide Galleria said the Obama administration has
set a goal to have one million EVs on the road by 2015. CambridgeSide Galleria
is pleased to be a part of this forward thinking movement to reduce air and
noise pollution.
CambridgeSide Galleria will unveil its charging stations
via a photo opportunity featuring the BMW ActiveE. The exclusive all-electric
BMW ActiveE, one of 700, will be on display at the new unveiled charging
stations.
CambridgeSide charging stations are made available via
Coulomb’s $37 million ChargePoint America Department of Energy program.
Coulomb’s ChargePoint America program will provide
charging stations to program participants in ten regions in the United States.
The program is a partnership between Coulomb and automobile companies,
including Ford, Chevrolet, smart USA, BMW, Nissan and Fisker Automotive.
EVs including the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan LEAF, have
recently began to populate the roads across the nation. However, more and more
EVs and Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles (PHEVs) will be entering the U.S. market over
the next 12 months including the Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid, BMW ActiveE and
Ford Focus Electric.
Coulomb’s ChargePoint Network provides state-of-the-art
features including the ability to: help with trip planning, manage the cost of
charging, and the ability to find and operate public ChargePoint-enabled
stations.
ChargePoint locations are included on all ChargePoint
mobile phone applications for iPhone, Android and Blackberry. These mobile apps
provide an easy way to locate stations near any specified address, get
turn-by-turn directions, and even start and stop a charging session directly
from a smart phone. Additionally, these apps allow drivers to utilize
ChargePoint Network’s station reservation feature.
Drivers can locate reservable stations, and then make,
view and cancel a reservation directly from a smart phone. There are more than
6,000 Chargepoint Network charging spots worldwide including 77 public charging
stations in Massachusetts, and 50 in the Greater Boston area. The new public
charging stations at CambridgeSide Galleria are located on Level A, next to Zipcar
inside CambridgeSide Galleria.