EV range anxiety? Go to Cracker Barrel
The South has a lot of Cracker Barrels (and even more Waffle Houses). So grits and gravy are almost always within reach along the highways. And if you are in Tennessee, you can soon indulge while your electric car gets its own fill.
Starting in April, 24 of the state's 50 Cracker Barrel restaurants will have electric vehicle charging stations. ECOtalitywill install 12 of its Blink stations along the 425-mile route between Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga—intriguingly dubbed "the Tennessee Triangle" (below). The program is part of a $230-million EV Project to provide infrastructure and encourage a market for electric cars. Population density and the distance from major interstates and roads as well as from other charging facilities will determine where the remaining 12 EV-enabled Cracker Barrels will be.
In a statement, the restaurant chain's CEO said he didn't expect a lot of traffic at the charging stations, but that the company wanted to offer a bit of future with their old-fashioned cooking.
ECOtality's Blink DC Fast stations take about 30 minutes to charge a car. So there may as well be free biscuits! The slower, Level 2 stations at some restaurants will take longer, giving you more time to rock in chairs, peruse hokey collectibles or sniff pie-scented candles at the "Old Country Store."
A Blink Network smartphone application informs drivers/diners of their charging progress. Just in case you've neglected to download the Cracker Barrel locator app, it also tells you where the closest charging station is.
The larger pilot project, with about $115 million of DOE funding, aims to deploy 8,300 EVs (about 5,700 Nissan Leafs and 2,600 Chevy Volts). To juice them up, Ecotality will place more than 15,000 charging stations in 6 states.
Related on SmartPlanet:
- Hertz wants you to rent an electric vehicle
- Bloomberg pushes for electric taxis in cities
- Park and Ride: solar parking lots with EV fill-ups
- 10 steps to push electric vehicle adoption
Image: Flickr_jshyun
This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com