EV charging stations could be EVerywhere!
 

I noticed that my local grocery store has power outlets on all the street lights in the parking lot.

They use these to power X-mas tree lights they decorate the poles of the street lights with in the winter.

These are basically existing electric vehicle charging stations!

Drive to the grocery store, plug in, and charge while you shop!

I would love to talk to the property managers about some sort of trade of allowing me to plug in, in exchange for newspaper and TV publicity about how eco-friendly they are that they are helping promote eco-friendly vehicles!

Here's a video telling the basics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96MK4RzebaY





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So in one of the last clips, I see you're hiding an extension cord behind your back. Didja plug in? Was the outlet turned on?

I'm not HIDING the cord. It's just set there.

I brought a short extension and my KillaWatt to test the outlet.

Its a standard 120V, 60 Hz outlet. I don't remember if it was 15 or 20 amp though.

I didn't plug in. I do want to get official permission from the property owners. Maybe I could EVen make a small sign "Electric vehicle charging station" with a magnet that I could slap on the post while I charge!

I'd verify that first with the owners/store chain. i highly doubt thats there for EV's. Maybe for diesels in the winter or holiday lights too,but highly doubt they where thinking hey an EV can plug in and draw more amps from our electric bill!!

I got a chance to stop by the grocery store today.

The manager there was very friendly and seemed supportive. Of course he would still have to talk to the company owner, who is very big into community support.

The constantly have school fundraisers and similar events at their stores.

I also wrote down the number of the property management company, and phoned them.

I didn't get a chance to talk to the manager of that particular shopping center, but the person I did talk to was friendly and did NOT shoot me a "nu-uh, we wouldn't do that." etc.

In my comments to these people, I mentioned that I am seeking to promote clean, earth-friendly transportation, and would like to get some free advertising for their business by showing newspapers how they support electric vehicles.

The grocery store is only 3 miles from my house. I do NOT need to charge while grocery shopping. I'm never EVen at the store for more than about half an hour at a time, so it's not like I would get a huge charge out of it anyways.

It's just that it seems like the perfect way to start building support for electric vehicles and public charging stations.

Face it, I'm the only guy who is going to be charging up there anyways. But they could get some great advertising from it. I can never track down the exact info, but I know there are some federal and state tax incentives for EV charging stations too.

I would think they would be real happy to get a nice tax break just to put up a tin sign that says "EV Charging Station"!