The Walgreens pharmacy chain will offer rapid-charging EV stations at 18 Houston-area stores next year, through a partnership with power utility NRG Energy.
NRG’s eVgo Network(pronounced ee-vee-go), one of the first commercial electric-vehicle-charging networks to launch in the U.S., will initially consist of over 100 charging stations and cost NRG about $10 million in infrastructure investment.
The eVgo Network will be rolled out in early 2011 throughout Houston and Harris County, Texas, and include two types of facilities, as well as two types of EV charging stations.
The eVgo network will be an integration of both Level 2 chargers, which generally take four hours to recharge an EV to full capacity, and DC rapid chargers, which can charge an EV in about 30 minutes.
NRG’s subscription service, which includes the cost of the home-charging station and its installation, will cost between $49 and $89 per month for a three-year contract, according to NRG.
Sounds a little pricey to me.
What the???
Are they following the cellphone model? You buy an electric vehicle and have to sign up with a charging contract for three years? And why do you need one at home? Can’t you just plug the damned thing in? Or are they really going to follow the phone model and have different adapters for each model of car?
And you’re right. It does sound a little pricey. They pass it off as how much you save over gasoline and never remind you how you paid three times as much as you would have for a gas vehicle.
Shit. I am getting so pissed about everything. I think I’ll run down to the airport and see if I can finagle a happy ending!
$89 a month might not be bad, but depends on how often you can charge the car. if it’s unlimited, and you live close to the station, it would be great, but i doubt it’s unlimited
There was just a fire on the ferry between Oslo and Copenhagen because of an idiot charging his el-mobile! These things kills!
http://nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/ostlandssendingen/1.7387515
The next year gas version of the Ford Focus (which will also be available electric) only burns $77 per month of gas if driven 12,000 miles/yr.
So let’s see:
Electric: $35,000 to buy, $89 to charge
Gas: $16,995 to buy, $77 to fuel
Such a deal! I can’t wait for my hair shirt too.
By all appearances, this is another clever plan to kill off the electric car. Lets see: ok, a drug company in cahoots with Big Energy. Surely, want they want is in America’s best interests?
Without looking it up, I assume NRG is owned by Standard Oil OR its a move by Big Coal to stop any move towards home based photovoltaics.
Its clear once you strip away the shear gossamer covering of “service to the community.”
Hah!
The ultimate goal of big (huge) business capitalism… power over you and extraction of your money. No bobbo, NRG is not owned by big oil, but they would like to take their place and keep us all at their mercy.
“NRG Energy, Inc. is a wholesale power generation company, primarily engaged in the ownership and operation of power generation facilities and the sale of energy, capacity and related products in the United States and internationally. The Company has a diverse portfolio of electric generation facilities in terms of geography, fuel type and dispatch levels. It seeks to maximize operating income through the efficient procurement and management of fuel supplies and maintenance services, and the sale of energy, capacity and ancillary services into attractive spot, intermediate and long-term markets.”
skeptic–I’m pretty sure Big Oil owns everything and everyone-even those of us who are oblivious to it. What else makes the world go around?
Hey these vehicles sound like I will lose a lot of Green trying to charge them? Who are they fooling. The American scam will be to take advantage of all the idiots who buy these rechargable vehicles.
that $89 is the price of the charging unit itself. It is extra to use them to charge your vehicle.
Remember they have those things at Costco(PriceClub)?
#5 Bobbo – For the record, Walgreen’s is not a drug company. They’re a retailer. Yes, they also retail drugs.
#4 Sweeney – to paraphrase Bobbo: the future is so bright, I can barely afford it!
I honestly wish people would F*CKING THINK for a moment. New tech costs money to develop and commercialize. The first light bulbs cost more then candles, the first VCR cost $5k at retail. Those who expect developing tech to be cheap are denying reality.
The fact remains that we CANNOT KEEP GIVING MONEY TO OIL-BEARING COUNTRIES THAT SUPPORT ANTI_AMERICA ACTIONS. Do yoiu want to stop Iranian nuclear development? Stop giving them money. You want to shut up Chavez. Stop giving him money.
Yes, it will take time to develop and commercialize new tech and it will take cost and it will take effort, but not to even try only demonostrates our loss of will.
One day very soon we’ll be bitching about how we buy all our solar cells and e-vehicles and battery tech from overseas while not realizing that WE CREATED THE SITUATION.
Shut up and stop whining and at least try and pretend you want to make a better future.
The local Walmart had electric vehicle charging stations installed years ago. They’re still there, completely unused and broken, I doubt that they were used more than a handful of times in their history, back when they actually worked, that is.
#12 Smartie – if it wers new technology, I’d be right there with you. Last I heard, we’ve been transforming AC to DC and metering electricity for several years now.
Oh, you meant the cars themselves? Nothing new there. I’ve had lithium batteries in my wristwatch, again for years.
The cars may be running on electricity but they’re basically still fossil fueled.
The only that’s new is there is starting to be a demand for the durned things. So stick to the consumer.
Oh, one really nice thing about them is they’re quiet. But they’re being required to add some annoying noises to them to warn blind people who are too dumb to have a dog.
I have nothing against blind people. I thank god every day for the beautiful blind woman who thinks I’m handsome.
ill keep using diesel in my car.
Awesome to see Walmart not only advance the inevitable future of battery/hybrid cars, but also cleverly using their parking lot as a way to “fuel up”.
This may become as popular as what Wifi is today to bring in customers to shop.
Electricity access is ubiquitous. The future looks bright for clean energy in personal transportation..
After due consideration, I can drive my car for a month for at least slightly less than they want to charge me to have a charging station at my home even at $49 a month. My job is minutes from home and where I shop is even closer unless I shop on line.
When I do the math on this I keep coming up with this is a more expensive and less convenient form of transportation than what I’m now using.
I’m sure that alone is enough to commend it to the people in CA and NY so I’m going to leave it to you guys after all somebody said it was green so what more could you ask for?
These things should be free. All you do is need a code from the Walgreens cashier to punch into the charger while you shop.