Free Blink® Chargers to various places/people...

[Ron C]

I got some emails this morning from ECOtality - makers of Blink brand EVSEs/network.

They all go something like this:

EV Project offers Free Blink® Chargers to EV Drivers and Commercial Host Sites in Chicago

SAN FRANCISCO and CHICAGO – Wednesday, August 1, 2012 – ECOtality, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECTY), a leader in clean electric transportation and storage technologies, announced today it will offer its Blink® smart charging stations free to residents and commercial host sites of the greater metropolitan Chicago area as part of its expansion of The EV Project, a public-private partnership with the Department of Energy.

“Now residents and businesses in Northern Illinois interested in electric transportation in the Chicago region can join The EV Project and help us build a nationwide network of electric vehicle charging stations”, said Don Karner, Chief Innovation Officer of ECOtality, Inc. “By signing up for a free charger, EV owners can take part in this massive research project that can help reduce our country’s dependence on foreign oil. We are excited about bringing The EV Project to the greater Chicago region. With the expansion of this new market, The EV project is now in nine states and 21 major metropolitan areas throughout the country.”

I got offers for Philadelphia, Chicago, and Atlanta (and the respective surrounding areas). Anyone know anything more about this other than the marketing blurb above? I'm trying to decide if it's worth pursuing at the business level (at my office or a local establishments that I frequent). At home, this is uninteresting to me because I already have the Voltec. I may even consider sharing this with my local dealer as another incentive they can use for buyers.

[Johnismostlycool]

I got this in a letter from my dealership and to me its worth investigating for home use. Basically, you get a free Blink 240 volt charger and somewhere between $400-$1200 in installation credits, depending on where you are located (you have to pay for anything over those amounts). You just have to let the government monitor your usage until April of 2013, after which they no longer monitor and the charger, etc belong to you.

Apparently this is a result of a DOE grant to Ecotality. I'm beyond excited about this, and already have started the process to get this installed.

[bonaire]

DoE already gave PECO (my local electric provider) $200M to roll out smart meters (which they are slowly doing). Now, they give out $50 to report that you have an EV (I wonder if they reached out to some of the local Tesla Roadster owners?) and now offer Blink chargers? Sounds pretty tempting. No TOU rate changes anytime soon but maybe they will shuttle smart meters to homes who sign up for the Blink install?

I've done the web page to sign up for the Philadelphia area. Hoping to hear from them at some point - and I'd allow them to install as long as it was not some kind of milking of the DoE funds extortion like we saw with SPX.

[ATLVolt]

Am so wanting something like this for the Atlanta area.....

[Ron C]

ATL was on the list. Here's that email:

EV Project offers Free Blink® Chargers to EV Drivers and Commercial Host Sites in Atlanta

SAN FRANCISCO and ATLANTA – Wednesday, August 1, 2012 – ECOtality, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECTY), a leader in clean electric transportation and storage technologies, announced today it will offer its Blink® smart charging stations free to residents and commercial host sites of the greater metropolitan Atlanta area as part of its expansion of The EV Project, a public-private partnership with the Department of Energy.

“Now people interested in electric transportation in the Atlanta region can join The EV Project and help us build a nationwide network of electric vehicle charging stations”, said Don Karner, Chief Innovation Officer of ECOtality, Inc. “By signing up for a free charger, EV owners can take part in this massive research project that can help reduce our country’s dependence on foreign oil. We are excited about bringing The EV Project to the greater Atlanta region. With the expansion of this new market, The EV project is now in nine states and 21 major metropolitan areas throughout the country.”

Qualified residents in the Atlanta region who have taken ownership of either the Nissan LEAF or Chevy Volt, will receive a free residential Blink wall mount charger as well as an installation credit of up to $400, subject to certain conditions. Residents and commercial hosts interested in participating can sign up at http://www.theevproject.com/sign-up.php or by emailing atlanta@ecotality.com.

“Electric vehicles are here, and Georgia Power is excited about projects that grow the charging infrastructure in our area,” said Ben Echols, Georgia Power’s electric transportation program manager. “Electric vehicles are quiet, clean and efficient and offer users the opportunity to save money on fuel and maintenance costs, reduce their environmental impact, and contribute to the energy independence of the U.S. by using a domestically produced source of energy.

“Georgia Power offers a Plug-In Electric Vehicle rate that provides customers a significant discount on electricity during the hours when they are most likely to charge their vehicles: 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., every day. It’s easy for customers to take advantage of our special rate by simply programming their Blink charger or setting a timer on their vehicle. In addition, they can shift other home energy use and save even more money on their electric bill,” added Echols.

To learn more about The EV Project opportunities in the Atlanta area and meet with local EV experts, save the date for a Host Partners Forum on August 16th at 10 am EST at The Ventanas. Details on this event will be released through a media advisory and on Blink’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blinknetwork.

“The EV Project is an exciting expansion of Atlanta’s relationship with the U.S. Department of Energy, and our newest partner, ECOtality. Atlanta’s sustainability plan, Power to Change, helps to create the landscape for innovative projects like these to show proof of concept, for permanent adoption. As our office focuses on creating avenues for a decrease in fossil fuel dependence, we commend ECOtality for its efforts, and look forward to expanded resources for plug in electric vehicle owners here in our great city,” said Denise Quarles, City of Atlanta’s Director of Sustainability.

“ECOtality’s selection of Atlanta as one of its launch cities demonstrates how well-positioned our region is for the adoption of electric vehicles,” stated Bob Pertierra, Vice President Supply Chain & Advanced Manufacturing, Metro Atlanta Chamber. “Atlanta is one of the most scalable cities in the country for EV deployment and ECOtality has recognized that advantage. This is an exciting new development for our area and a critical step in our region’s EV readiness efforts.”

“The installation of electric vehicle charging stations in the metro Atlanta area supports the mission of the Clean Cities program and represents another step in the reduction of the nation’s dependency on petroleum for transportation,” said Don Francis, Executive Director of Clean Cities-Atlanta. “Clean Cities-Atlanta provides tools and resources for voluntary, community-centered programs focused on reducing the use of imported oil, developing regional economic opportunities, and improving air quality. The expansion of the EV Project into metro Atlanta will significantly impact the deployment of clean, alternative fueled electric vehicles.”

ECOtality is the project manager of The EV Project, a research initiative to help build America’s future EV infrastructure. To date, The EV Project has gathered more than 33 million miles of EV driver data that will serve to support the deployment of EVs in key markets. The project is a public-private partnership, funded in part by the U.S. Department of Energy through a federal stimulus grant and made possible by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). For more information about The EV Project, please visit www.theevproject.com

(I did the conversion between text and URL links, and I may have missed/botched any number of them. Sorry for any inconvenience if I did.)

[ATLVolt]

Thanks Ron, I just went onto their web site putting myself on the list..... fingers crossed.

[Windy City Wattson]

I'm in Chicago area and live in an apartment complex that includes a single car garage. The electrical panel for the garages is on my garage wall. I hope they'd be willing to look at installation in a rental and my rental company would allow it (they already allow me to charge my car on 120V).

I signed up, and have my fingers crossed I'll hear something.

[Fulgerite]

I believe SPX can also give you a choice of free chargers in many areas. (Including free Blink, ChargePoint, GE and SPX chargers.)

[Ron C]

I signed up also. The options weren't clear, so I chose the one that said "I'm interested in the Chevrolet Volt" because it's true.

[emd]

nipsco in indiana doing the same with the choice of 4 different chargers.