Wednesday, March 13, 2013

PlugInCarolina - The Carolinas Voice for Plugin Vehicles

In my Previous post - I tallied the Plugshare additions - but also added a story referencing the Carolina's Electric Vehicle Readiness. It mentioned that Spartanburg has 12 EV Chargers - but only 2 were being shown on PlugShare. So - with a little research, we discover - PlugInCarolina - The Carolinas Voice for Plugin Vehicles.

From there - we see that they have approximately 12 or so stations in the City and area, and so I took down the Addresses:


  • 500 Ammons Rd, Spartanburg, SC 29306 
  • Spartanburg Public Works, 801 Union St, Spartanburg, SC 29302 
  • 2 Charging Stations: 366 N Church St, Spartanburg, SC 29303 
  • 2 Charging Stations: 299 N Church St, Spartanburg, SC 29306 
  • Spartanburg Municipal Garage 130 E St John St., Spartanburg, SC 29306 
  • Spartanburg Municipal Garage 100 Dunbar St. (Garage), Spartanburg, SC 29306 
  • 111 Magnolia St, Spartanburg, SC 29306 
  • 201 W St John St, Spartanburg, SC 29306 
  • Spartanburg City Hall 177 W Broad St, Spartanburg, SC 29306 
  • 2 Charging Stations: 160 E Kennedy St, Spartanburg, SC 29306
It would be great if my viewers from Spartanburg - could verify these locations - and add them to the PlugShare Network. Check the ChargeUp link for others, too!



New Chargers Added - Mar. 12th - Mar. 13th, 2013 + Interesting News Bits


Over the last 24 hours - there have been 23 New Public Chargers added to the PlugShare network, plus 15 New Photos, and 4 New home stations being shared. 

Plugshare is now tracking 15,816 Total Stations! (Soon to hit 16,000 Stations Tracked!)

The additions tracked are: 

  • New Public Chargers Added = 23
  • New Restricted Stations added = 1
  • New Photos Added = 15
  • New Home Stations Shared = 4

58 People Checked into Public EV Chargers today, which means that while it was double or triple the last few days, most people are still charging up at home, and just 58 needed a little extra or did not have a home charger! Or they were checking out charging stations before they needed them - to get a feel for the locations! Maybe - with warmer weather - and new EV Buyers - comes more public charging, too! 

The last person counted today - was 'Chris Checked in at Mayer Electric Supply, Marietta, CA'

Special thanks to Brian (Seattle, WA), Dana (Cheshire, CT), David (Mountainville, NY),  and Seth (Cedar Falls, IA), for sharing their Home stations access with us today!

New Public Stations today, by Name & Location (where possible):
  1. Palm Springs Public Library, Palm Springs, CA
  2. Hubbell Incorporated, Shelton, CT
  3. Thrifty Foods, Central Saanich, BC
  4. Millwoods Nissan, Edmonton, AB
  5. Providence - Colby Campus, Everett, WA
  6. 2404 Heritage Court SW., Olympia, AC
  7. Walmart, Kailua-Kona, HI
  8. Creek Resort, Orlando Resort, FL
  9. City Hall, Huntington Beach, CA
  10. Elmhurst, Haward, CA
  11. Parking Garage, Brooklyn, NY
  12. Zenk Lot, Novato, CA
  13. Gymnastic Center, Novato, CA
  14. CCAH Salinis, CA
  15. City Council Chambers, Novato, CA
  16. Madeira, Mountain View, CA
  17. AutoBeYours.com, Scottsburg, IN
  18. PMC Enterprises, Forsyth, GA
  19. Kingman KOA, Kingman, AZ
  20. Willimas Grand Canyon KOA, Williams, AZ
  21. Heathman Hotel, Portland, OR
  22. Hyatt Regency, Indian Wells, CA Resort & Spa
  23. Hotel La Jolla, CA

New Restricted Stations today, by Name & Location (where possible):
  1. Roush, Henderson, CO
Interesting News Bits:

SolarCity (NASDAQ: SCTY  ) and Tesla Motors (NASDAQ: TSLA  ) don't seem like a natural fit initially, but a growing number of partnerships between the solar company and electric vehicle maker may be a sign of what's to come in these two industries. SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWR  ) already has deals with Nissan and Ford (NYSE: F  ) , and solar companies are viewing electric vehicles as a ... (More)

Usually, we’d tell you that the big impact here would be the energy saved. And that does happen. But also, by using LEDs, supermarkets can keep food fresh for longer.

It makes sense when you think about it: The light from a traditional incandescent bulb comes from a piece of metal, heated to such a high temperature that it glows. A byproduct of this process is, not surprisingly, heat. And when you put food near heat, ...(More).

According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s alternative fuel locator, South Carolina ranks eighth in public charging station locations per capita. South Carolina has 106 locations for its 4.6 million residents. This is close behind California, which places sixth and ahead of Texas, which places fifteenth. Oregon is on top of the list with 258 public locations ...(More).

General Motors Co.’s Chevrolet Volt and Toyota Motor Corp.’s plug-in Prius outsold Nissan Motor Co.’s Leaf globally for the first time, Bloomberg New Energy Finance said. Deliveries of the Volt more than tripled to...(More).

Give GM CEO Dan Akerson, or Akio Toyoda from Toyota a microphone, and prepare for a snooze-fest that you will most likely come away from with no more knowledge than what you started out with.  But give the mic to rockstar CEOs like Carlos Ghosn from Nissan, or Elon Musk from Tesla…and you are always going to...(More).


And a Special clip, In recognition of the New Pope, Pope Francis 1, (Mario Bergoglio of Argentina), and the Outgoing Benedict XVI, pope emeritus - The Electric Popemobile:
Popes know how to travel in style, as the long list of iconic Popemobiles can attest to. In recent years, His Holiness Benedict XVI – aka the "Green Pope" – has been trying to clean up those bubbly vehicles with alternative powertrains. He wanted a plug-in hybrid from Mercedes-Benz or a solar-powered...(More).


Tuesday, March 12, 2013

New Chargers Added - Mar. 11th, - Mar. 12th, 2013 + News

Looks like it has been a bit of a quiet Tuesday, as well - with a lot less development than recent days, but still a fair amount of activity among EV users, as they go about their business, accessing Public Charging Stations along the way.

Over the last 24 hours - there have been 3 New Public Chargers added to the PlugShare network, plus 18 New Photos, and 2 New home stations being shared. 

Plugshare is now tracking 15,770 Total Stations!


The additions tracked are: 

  • New Public Chargers Added = 3
  • New Photos Added = 18
  • New Home Stations Shared = 2

65 People Checked into Public EV Chargers today, which means that while it was double or triple the last few days, most people are still charging up at home, and just 65 needed a little extra or did not have a home charger! Or they were checking out charging stations before they needed them - to get a feel for the locations! Maybe - with warmer weather - and new EV Buyers - comes more public charging, too!

Special thanks to Robert (Houma, LA), and Doug (Half Moon Bay, CA)  for sharing their Home stations access with us today!

New Public Stations today, by Name & Location (where possible):
  1. El Rancho Market, Solvang, CA 
  2. Pacific Coast Plaza, Pizmo Beach, CA
  3. Milroy Construction, Mountain View, CA
Among this activity - things are happening in many other places, some of them are listed in my first additional page here - Something for my Expanding Reach and Readership!

Also - Toyota Now Offering HUGE Prius PHEV Discounts, and a comparison story:
Chevy Volt Versus Prius Plug-In Versus Ford CMAX Energi. (Of Course - your needs may be different - and Max. All Electric Range (AER) - may be different than for others!)


Monday, March 11, 2013

New Chargers Added - Mar. 10th, - Mar. 11th, 2013 + News

It has been a bit of a quiet Monday - with a lot less development than recent days, but still a fair amount of activity among EV users, as they go about their business, accessing Public Charging Stations along the way.

Over the last 24 hours - there have been 9 New Public Chargers (plus 1 Restricted Charger) added to the PlugShare network, plus 31 New Photos, and 3 New home stations being shared. 

Plugshare is now tracking 15,765 Total Stations!


The additions tracked are: 

  • New Public Chargers Added = 9
  • New Restricted Stations added = 1
  • New Photos Added = 31
  • New Home Stations Shared = 3

67 People Checked into Public EV Chargers today, which means that while it was double or triple the last few days, most people are still charging up at home, and just 67 needed a little extra or did not have a home charger! Or they were checking out charging stations before they needed them - to get a feel for the locations! Maybe - with warmer weather - and new EV Buyers - comes more public charging, too!

Special thanks to Dakota, Mark (Bier, WA), & Mark (Montreal, QC)  for sharing their Home stations access with us today!


New Public Stations today, by Name & Location (where possible):
  1. Omni Hotel, Richmond, VA
  2. Camarillo Outlet Mall, Oxnard, CA
  3. Harbour Centre, Vancouver, BC
  4. Tesla Washington Square, Portland, OR
  5. Canadian tire, Vancouver, BC (Duplicate?)
  6. Kum & go #408, Bentonville, AR
  7. Spradley Barr Motors, Cheyenne, WY
  8. Landers McLarty Nissan, Bentonville, AR
  9. Niles Nissan, Key West, FL
  10. Yarrow Ecovillage Visitor Parking, Chilliwack, BC

New Restricted Stations today, by Name & Location (where possible):
  1. Cummins Parking Garage, Columbus, IN

Among this activity - things are happening in many other places, that are demonstrating the best applications of a fully functional Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure - as in Estonia:

Closer to home, in Quebec, they are continuing their Expansion as noted in this story (And in Previous Posts on this Blog):

Sunday, March 10, 2013

New Chargers Added - Mar. 9th, - Mar. 10th, 2013 + Video

It has been a bit quieter day this past Sunday - with a lot less development than any day this week, but still a fair amount of activity among EV users, as they go about their business, accessing Public Charging Stations along the way.

Over the last 24 hours - there have been 3 New Public Chargers (plus 3 Restricted Charger) added to the PlugShare network, plus 28 New Photos, and 6 New home stations being shared. 


Plugshare is now tracking 15,752 Total Stations!
(At 3:18 PM today it was one less! See the Screen capture at the bottom of this post)


The additions tracked are: 

  • New Public Chargers Added = 3
  • New Restricted Stations added = 3
  • New Photos Added = 28
  • New Home Stations Shared = 6

73 People Checked into Public EV Chargers today, which means that while it was double or triple the last few days, most people are still charging up at home, and just 73 needed a little extra or did not have a home charger! Or they were checking out charging stations before they needed them - to get a feel for the locations! Maybe - with warmer weather - and new EV Buyers - comes more public charging, too!

Special thanks to Mike, Geoffrey B., H and G, Darren, John, Ray,  for sharing their Home stations access with us today!


New Public Stations today, by Name & Location (where possible):
  1. Harrah's Lake Tahoe, NV
  2. Fresh St. Market, West Vancouver, BC
  3. Home Depot, ebikes Only

New Restricted Stations today, by Name & Location (where possible):
  1. MontBleu Resort Casino, & Spa, Stateline, NV
  2. Experian HQ Parking Structure, Costa Mesa, CA
  3. Triton Stone Group, Ft. Myers, FL

Survey - Road Signs for EV Charging Stations  - GOC EV Signage: http://bit.ly/ZAYl1D 
Help Develop - take the Survey! (Signs are Bilingual - English/French Text some times)


New EV Charging Systems To Improve Electrical Grid Stability.
AeroVironment, Inc. and the United States Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) announced March 6 a commercial license agreement for a technology that supports widespread adoption of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) by helping to stabilize the electrical grid.

At 3:18 PM today - I took this screen Capture of the PlugShare App Tally on my Android Phone
(Added in on July 3rd, 2013):