First photos: free London street chargers for electric cars
Cycling to town today to meet ladies from Mexico's fantastic Sierra Gorda national park, I came across this crazy sight: electric cars topping up at kerb-side charging stations. Plonked in Covent Garden, there are a pair of the stations - the first in London outside a car park - which anyone driving a G-Wiz, Vectrix bike or an electric Smart (the EV, out Feb 07) can use to charge up their batteries. The two new charging stations are free to use but limited to three hours per car, to deter hogs. If you've got an electric motor and fancy some free fuel, you just need to contact Westminster Council to get a key for the stations. Oh, and for extra smug points, yes, the parking's free and electric drivers don't have to pay the congestion charge. Two more photos after the click-through.
The car being charged here is the Smart EV, which - sadly - isn't yet for sale. It's expected to appear on forecourts in Feb 2007. The yellow cord you can see doubles as the key to unlock the charging station and the simple 3-point plug to power up your green motor. [click the image for a larger version]
This is a close-up of the stations - they look like posh parking meters. Incidentally, this one is on Wellington Street and the other is on Southampton Street, both in Covent Garden, London. [click the image for a larger version]
Hello. I work with MC Electric, in Seattle Washington. We are trying to locate manufacturers of charging stations for electric vehicles. We have several large projects that want the stations for their parking garages, but they must also be able to accept payment for usage. We are excited they are willing to put them in. Please let me know contact information where we could purchase pay charging station meters. Thank you.
Deanna Sigel
deanna05@comcast.net
Posted by: Deanna | February 28, 2008 at 06:51 AM