Campbell, California-based Coulomb Technologies has developed the ChargePoint Networked Charging Station for clients worldwide in the past year. In addition to multiple municipalities in the Bay Area, Coulomb Technologies has outfitted clients as far flung as the city of Amsterdam and the Rampart Casino and Resort in Las Vegas. The latest client for the California tech firm is the city of Hillsboro, Oregon, which has ordered 16 Networked Charging Stations for its downtown district. The city’s 90,000 residents will be able to access stations in parking ramps and the intermodal facility by the end of 2009.
EV drivers in Hillsboro, Oregon must subscribe to ChargePoint services before using charging stations. Coulomb Technologies works with local utilities to deliver ChargePoint Network Cards tied to grid networks for billing purposes. ChargePoint subscribers can use their Network Cards anywhere in the world, which is a significant advantage for drivers considering Coulomb’s recent expansion. The ChargePoint Network Card program is a stroke of genius that will eliminate billing issues for utilities on the eve of EV rollouts.
The myriad benefits of the ChargePoint Networked Charging Station will make mass rollouts easier for cities, consumers and utility companies. Coulomb Technologies designed its charging stations with remote monitoring capabilities to protect against power surges, outages and other technical problems. The billing problem cited by utility companies regarding EV infrastructure is solved with the ChargePoint subscription program. Every kilowatt hour of energy produced at public parking lots, office buildings and homes will be paid for by authorized ChargePoint users.
The ChargePoint Networked Charging Station system in Hillsboro and beyond is designed to be user friendly. Drivers with iPhone, Blackberry and other web-enabled phones will be able to hunt down unoccupied stations using GPS technology. Coulomb Technologies designed ChargePoint stations to send emails and text messages to waiting drivers when their vehicles are fully charged. The ChargePoint Networked Charging Station focuses on monitoring vehicle charges carefully to avoid dangerous overcharging. Coulomb Technologies is making a push to educate drivers on the potential impact of hybrid and EV use with a greenhouse emission calculator in each station. This calculator shows drivers the amounts of greenhouse gases saved by using electrical power rather than gasoline based on equivalent mileage for specific vehicle models.
