Car Charging Group, a supplier of charging services for electric vehicles has declared that it has been given a $1 million grant to install EV charging stations at 17 service plazas that are on the Pennsylvania Turnpike by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
Car Charging Group will install Level II and Level III charging stations, which have the capability of charging a car in around four hours and twenty minutes respectively. The installation of the EV charging stations will be done at the service plazas in three phases. The initial phase will involve installation into the service-plaza renovations being done currently between New Jersey and Harrisburg. In the other phases, service plazas between Ohio and Harrisburg, and later the Northeastern Extension will be involved. The project is anticipated to reach completion by June 30, 2013.
EV charging stations from Coulomb Technologies will be installed by the Car Charging Group. Access will be provided to users to the ChargePoint network, an online worldwide network, establishing a connection between unoccupied charging stations and EV drivers. Car Charging Group will offer flexible payment alternatives, making reservations and monitoring of customer usage styles, costs, energy use and revenues, all through the cloud-based software service of ChargePoint Network for controlling the EV charging operations. The network helps EV drivers to take advantage from ChargePoint mobile apps that include Blackberry, iPhone and Android, driver support and mapping services.
Up to $500,000 has been promised by the Turnpike Commission for electric upgrades at the plazas in order to provide the needed voltage to the charging stations.
The Alternative Fuels Incentive Grant Program offered the DEP grant, which is financed by a part of the gross utilities receipts tax.