A spokesperson tells Swamplot the map above gives a “pretty good” indication of where you’ll soon be able to find electric-vehicle charging stations in the new eVgo network announced today by NRG Energy. NRG says it will put “convenience” stations in parking lots in front of Best Buy, Spec’s, H-E-B, and 18 Walgreens stores, as well as faster-charging “freedom” stations in various locations along freeways, in shopping and business districts, and in other parking lots around Harris County. The company expects to have 50 Houston stations in place by the middle of next year — 150 by the time the network is complete — but no specific locations have been announced yet. NRG, which owns Reliant Energy, is calling Houston’s eVgo “the nation’s first privately funded, comprehensive electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem” but the second and third ecosystems shouldn’t be too far behind: The company plans to begin the rollout of similar setups “across Texas” next year. The first Houston stations should be ready to spout electrons in February.
Chargers will come in two flavors:
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Public stations offering 480-volt DC charges (all in non-retail locations) will be able to add up to 160 miles of driving range an hour to a plug-in vehicle. But NRG expects 80 to 90 percent of charging will take place in customers’ own garages, where the company will also install the slower “Level 2” 240-volt AC chargers, which add up to 24 miles of range per hour. Drivers who subscribe to NRG’s system for $79 or $89 a month will have unlimited access to the citywide charging network.
Here’s NRG’s smooth video pitch for adding a Level 2 charging station to the front of your strip mall:
Plus more details on charging electric vehicles, at home and away:
- Hello, eVgo [eVgo]
- Host a Charging Station [eVgo]
- Largest car charging network in the U.S. rolls out in Houston [FuelFix]
Photos and videos: eVgo
Have the specific locations for the initial charging stations been decided upon yet?
Electrc cars are gay!
This is awesome! Very smart for them to get ahead of the curve and blanket the city before other competition moves in.
Yeah, the guy above said that electric cars are gay. Well, I don’t know about gay but there is nothing like the sound of a V8 Hemi, a Boxer 6, or a V12 Ferrari. Electric sounds gay? Probably.
A small little EV car would be great for about 95% of my driving. The only downside is it would have to be another car to supplement my gas vehicle for when heavy lifting was needed
Keep in mind that with electric cars there is virtually no maintenance required (other than small stuff like tires and brakes). No more trips to the gas station, oil changes, oil filters, engine problems, exhaust, etc.
And electric motor parts, battery components, motor drives, motor mangement computers, charging system computers. There are still plenty of drive system components that can go wrong on an EV.
The car companies need to make the electric cars look better and a range of at least 300 miles, then it’ll be an easy choice. Tesla S has that potential, I’m really considering it when it comes out in 2012.
Hold On… I don’t spend $79.00 or $89.00 dollars a month for gas now… why would I want to spend that just to sit in front of a Walgreens for an hour waiting for the charge to build up?
Some alternative.
I’ll keep filling the SUV.