As part of the EV Project, Best Buy and ECOtality announced today that ECOtality's "Blink" EV charging stations will be installed at 12 Best Buy locations in the states of Arizona, California, and Washington.
The EV Project is a joint public-private program established at the end of 2009 to rapidly build out electric car charging infrastructure in six early deployment states—Oregon, Washington, California, Arizona, Tennessee and Texas. Funded by 115 million dollars in grants from the U.S. Department of Energy, as well as an additional matching $115 million in private investment, the EV Project is managed by ECOtality and has the goal of installing 15,000 commercial and residential Level 2 and DC fast charging stations over the next year.
Level 2 charging can provide between 15 and 25 miles of range per hour of charge (depending on the vehicle) and DC fast charging can fill a 100 mile range battery on a properly equipped car from empty to 80% in about 25 minutes.
Under the new agreement, Blink charging stations will be installed at 12 select Best Buy stores in the following locations by March of 2011:
- Arizona
- Tuscon
- Phoenix
- California
- Los Angeles
- San Diego
- Washington
- Seattle
"As the private sector will ultimately drive consumer electric vehicle adoption, our goal has been to establish a charging network that is conveniently placed in familiar places to meet consumers’ needs," said Jonathan Read, CEO of ECOtality, in a statement. "Aligning ourselves with major retailers is a key part of achieving that goal. In order for EV infrastructure to be a success, it is essential that private enterprises take an active role. Best Buy has shown true leadership in becoming a launch partner for The EV Project and exemplifies how corporate responsibility initiatives can directly benefit the customer experience, environment and society."
ECOtality's Blink stations operate on the company's Blink Network. Although the Blink Network isn't operational yet, all supported charging stations will connect to a web portal that provides users with charge status, statistics, history, and billing information in addition payment options. This information will also be available through the Blink Network smartphone app.
There is no word yet on whether or not the Blink stations installed at the Best Buy locations will be of the Level 2 or DC fast charging type.
