The project will oversee the installation of 15,000 commercial and residential charging stations in 16 cities and major metropolitan areas in six states and will provide an EV infrastructure to support deployment of 8,300 EVs.
Ecotality plans to install six to 10 of its Blink EV charging stations by February 2011 free of charge to be used in public parking areas at VMUC and will also offer the opportunity to purchase additional chargers for private parking areas.
VUMC, in majority, will receive Blink Level 2 commercial charging stations which use 240V with charging time of four to six hours in addition to one or two Blink DC fast chargers using 480V with charging time of under 30 minutes.
Each station will have a LAN line allowing Ecotality to gather and analyze EV project data on usage and enabling consumers to access the Blink Network with an integrated smartphone application that provide charge station locations, GPS navigation and charge status.
Ecotality CEO Jonathan Read said that in order to make EVs a reality, people need to be able to charge in places that are convenient to them, including public locations and employment centers.
“VUMC is setting a great example on both fronts, by installing Ecotality’s Blink charging stations at their parking facility for use by VUMC staff and visitors,” Read said.
