Getting a Charge: There’s an App for That
May 19th, 2011 by 
My son is learning how to drive. Gulp. So what’s his biggest issue so far? Dad telling him to check his mirrors more often or begging him to turn down his hip-hop radio station? No, he doesn’t like learning how to drive in a gas-guzzling SUV the size of Rhode Island.
He wants an electric vehicle. “Just think – no pollution and no paying $4 a gallon,” he argues. When he says this I instantly transform into my old man and begin thinking of every little thing that could go wrong if I was to purchase an EV and let him drive it. “Are you kidding me? What happens if you run out of power in the middle of the night? Those extension cords only reach so far.”
“Very funny, dad. Sounds like you have range anxiety,” he says rolling his eyes. Range anxiety is right. I know EVs are reliable but given their limited range you do have to think ahead. A fully charged Nissan Leaf has a range of nearly 140 miles while the sporty Tesla boasts a range of 245 miles. Meanwhile hybrids such as the Toyota Prius and the Chevy Volt have an internal combustion engine (ICE) to keep you rolling once the charge is gone.
I recently received an education about charging electric vehicles at the Drive Electric Minnesota display at the 10th annual Living Green Expo in St. Paul, Minn. There are some smart companies out there like GE, Coulomb Technologies, Eaton and ClipperCreek that are coming up with attractive, easy-to-use charging stations for both home and away.
I was particularly interested in hearing about locator apps for charge stations that you can download to your smart phone. One Drive Electric Minnesota vendor – Coulomb – recently upgraded its ChargePoint app so that it features real-time status for charging stations – green pushpins for available stations; blue pins for those in use. You can also reserve a station through the app so you know it will be waiting for you when you need it.
This is all still very new. I was surprised to learn that Coulomb currently has eight chargers in the Twin Cities and one in the Denver area so far. As electric vehicles grow in popularity so will the number of these convenient chargers.
Down the road these “public” charging stations might be found in the parking lot at a local Walgreen’s or right on Main Street. Pretty slick and a lot more comforting to someone like me. That’s the kind of innovation that will allow future fathers to sleep at night, rather than worry about their children running out of power in their electric vehicles.
Article by Dan Hauser, appearing courtesy Xcel Energy Blog.
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