Car fuel has come a long way - from steam to leaded gasoline - and now the metro area is preparing for the next technology, electric charging.
Throughout the state, more than 5,300 home and workplace charging stations are expected to be installed through a collaboration between General Motors, DTE Energy, Consumers Energy, and others. The utilities will cover up to $2,500 of the cost of the charging station and installation.
Novi and Northville are among cities in the area that will see electric car charging stations coming soon.
GM's Chevy Volt is one of several electric cars soon to be hitting the public market. By the end of 2011, General Motors plans to have almost 350 charging stations in place for employees at its facilities in Michigan; more than 100 are already installed. That includes 18 planned stations in and around downtown Detroit's Renaissance Center.
GM-installed charging stations for use by its employees in Michigan will include 34 at the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly center, where the Volt is built, and 140 in the homes of employees driving early-build models for quality evaluation. In addition, more than 1,500 Chevrolet dealers across the U.S. plan to install charging stations for use by customers, which includes nearly 650 dealers that will soon begin selling the Volt.
And to further take advantage of clean energy, many of the charging stations at GM facilities will be powered by renewable solar energy; the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly center already has 10 stations in place powered by photovoltaic systems. A similar system will also be put in place at the Warren Technical Center and Milford Proving Ground.
A grant program also exists for businesses and municipalities interested in installing charging stations. Business and municipalities in Michigan can apply online to own these free charging stations here.
Coulomb Technologies' ChargePoint America program unveiled its first networked charging station in Michigan, at NextEnergy just outside of Detroit. It is the first of hundreds of public charging stations that will be installed throughout southern Michigan as a part of a $37 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.
Source: General Motors; ChargePoint America
Writer: Kristin Lukowski
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