Electric vehicle infrastructure slowly growsFeb 3 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Kelsi Loos The Frederick News-Post, Md.
Frederick has few electric vehicle charging stations, but some familiar with the industry expect that to change. Eight stations are open to the public or available to clients at businesses in Frederick County, according to Plugshare, a site that maps where drivers can recharge. Most electric vehicles can be plugged into standard outlets, so electric vehicle users can recharge just about anywhere with permission. However, charging stations offer the advantage of higher voltage so car batteries fill up more quickly. The plugs are also conveniently located near parking spaces. Frederick Motor Co. general sales manager Rob Skora said charging stations can reduce charge time from seven to two-and-a-half hours. Skora expects to see more charging stations spring up around the county once electric models become more widely used. "They'll become more popular," he said. "It's just a matter of time and building that infrastructure for it." Sales of hybrid and electric models would probably pick up if gas prices spike again, Skora said, adding that as improved battery technology allows electric vehicles to go farther on a single charge, consumers will increasingly become interested. Meantime, the cost of electric vehicles could be a reason why some people aren't ready to give up the pump. The Ford Fusion electric, the only all-electric for sale at Frederick Motor Co., has a base sticker price of $35,170, and a C-Max hybrid goes for $25,170. "The batteries are still very expensive," Skora said. Despite the price, the dealer sold out of its electric Focus within two days of getting them, according to Skora, and hadn't been able to restock it as of last week. Meeting the demand for electric vehicles would likely encourage new places to charge them, he said. Several county car dealership have charging stations, including the Frederick Motor Co., Renn Kirby Mitsubishi, Frederick Nissan and Century Ford of Mount Airy. Frederick Community College opened a charging station by its Visual and Performing Arts Center in 2012. Few cars are using it, but that could change, according to Diane Branson, executive director of facilities management and planning. "Plans are being made to move the station from its current location to a new location in the parking garage, which may increase the usage," she wrote in an email. People who do not have electric vehicles still react favorably to the addition, Branson said, as an effort to reduce the college's environmental impact. The station is free to the public. The college bears the cost of the electricity, which, according to Branson, was not much. Construction costs were covered by a grant. The owners of Linganore Wine Cellars installed two charging stations around the same time, at a cost of about $4,000 or $5,000, also with the help of grant funding. "They are used like every week," said winemaker Anthony Aellen. "I'm just amazed at how many people are there with Volts or Nissan Leafs." The stations at the wine cellar are powered by a solar unit, so Aellen wasn't even sure if there was a cost to offering electricity to the public. Aellen got the idea to install charging stations while supervising a school trip to Italy. In Florence, he saw a man plug his electric scooter into a wall and asked him about it in his best Italian. He discovered stations all around Florence offering electricity to recharge scooters at no cost. "I turned to my wife and said, that's really cool, I wonder how we can do that at the farm?" Aellen said. Aellen said that he did not drive an electric vehicle himself, but his next car would probably be electric. Follow Kelsi Loos on Twitter: @KelsiFNP. http://www.energycentral.com/functional/news/news_detail.cfm?did=31398758& |