Smarlets: California company eyes electric charging stations for plug-in Volt

Smarlets: California company eyes electric charging stations for plug-in Volt

The upcoming Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid will have the ability to travel 40 miles on eletricity before switching to gasoline-power that also recharges its lithium-ion batteries. But say that a trip to work ends before the engine can recharge the batteries and you as a driver want to recharge ASAP in order to save more gas and money.

Well, two entrepreneurs from California think they have the solution. Richard Lowenthal and partner Praveen Mandal are calling their electric charging stations Smarlets, and plan to demo the technology in July at the Plug-In Car show in San Jose, California.

“We’re going to have curbside charging “” in parking structures, parking lots, at work and at retail,” says Lowenthal, CEO of Coulomb Technologies, of Campbell, California.

We’re just thinking if Coulomb will charge a fee for charging your plug-in and if that fee is more desirable than just running your Volt on gas. Not only that, how long will these charges take?

 

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

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