Charging Stations for Electric Vehicles

Looking eerily like a landing pad for a Vulcan Space Ship, solar panels have shown up on top of the Discovery Place garage to provide power to charge Electric Vehicles.  A similar station has been constructed on top of the parking garage for the Government Center.  Add these to the stations located in the parking lot across from Rock Bottom, and you get the start of a trend.

Granted, it is a very small trend at this point, but to encourage people to use Electric Vehicles (EV's) there needs to be a way to recharge them.  Sounds reminiscent of "Field of Dreams" "If you build it, they will come!"

In previous articles I have highlighted Brooks Agnew of Vision Motor Cars who is about to go into production in Michigan of his Electric Delivery Vehicle.  It is a fascinating concept especially here in Charlotte where all our natural sunlight will be providing enough power to keep the vehicle going at highway speeds for FREE!  This truck, called the Everest, joins the ranks of the Chevy Volt, the Nissan Leaf, as well as others now coming on the market.

The ability to recharge vehicles while at work will speed the adoption of these vehicles.  The adoption will lead to obvious benefits, no emissions and lower operating costs. 

In the February 27th edition of the Charlotte Observer, Bill Ford Jr., the great-grandson of Henry Ford, talked about the time when his great-grandfather started Ford how people seldom went 25 miles from their homes, and how the automobile gave them the freedom to travel. Density, by it's nature, encourages a lifestyle that would normally not exceed 25 miles!

The coming of EV's will certainly highlight that smaller traveling radius and make living in a densely populated city more attractive.  As that becomes attractive, our property values will rise.