The 1861 Custom House ChargePoint charging station installation is the first of more than a dozen planned installations by Positive Energy Resources, a Texas Renewable & Sustainable Resource Systems Integration company based in Houston and Galveston Island over the next few months. The charging stations were sold through Verdek-EV, Coulomb’s exclusive southwest distributor.
The City of Houston recently purchased and installed several ChargePoint Networked Charging Stations and has nearly 50 EV’s and PHEV’s in service. The installation of the ChargePoint charging stations in Galveston will serve to promote inter-city travel by Houston businesses and residents who own and drive plug-in vehicles and who travel to Galveston.
Matthew Pelz, special projects coordinator of Galveston Historical Foundation, said: ”The ChargePoint Networked Charging Station is an aesthetically pleasing and effective method of encouraging a practical, viable, renewable and sustainable resources program within our city.
”The ChargePoint charging stations allow for the use of an emerging clean fuel technology that can be easily integrated in the Historic Downtown District. We are in the process of rebuilding our community since Hurricane Ike swept through. We are embracing sustainable transportation and renewable energy solutions and these charging stations are a welcome addition.”
The networked charging station is part of the ChargePoint Network, which is open to all drivers of plug-in vehicles and provides authentication, management, and control for the networked electric vehicle charging stations through multiple web-based portals for hosts, fleet managers, drivers, and utilities.
ChargePoint Network features include; charging status by SMS text or email notification, location of unoccupied charging stations via smart phones, authenticated access to eliminate energy theft, authorized energizing for safety and smart grid integration for utility load management with future V2G capabilities.
Richard Lowenthal, CEO Coulomb Technologies, said: ”The Galveston network of stations combined with the existing Houston network gives Southern Texas one of the largest installations of networked charging stations in the US. The demographic considerations for Galveston are near-perfect; the number of people who live and work on the Island, the close proximity to the Houston Metro area, an international tourism base with a mind-set that is supportive of recreational EV use.”
The City of Galveston recently placed two new e-buses into service, and an electric taxi company, along with a shuttle service using 12-passenger EV’s, are soon to be in operation.
