Coulomb Technologies Celebrates Electrifying 1st Year in Business
Innovator of Networked Charging Station Infrastructure Showcases Latest Charging Station Technology for Fleets and Consumers at Plug-in 2009
LONG BEACH, Calif. August 10, 2009 –In the first year since Coulomb Technologies launched the ChargePoint™ Networked Charging Stations for electric vehicles, the Company has achieved significant milestones; it has completed more than 140 worldwide installations and has distributors covering all 50 states in the US. The company has also established European headquarters and developed technology partnerships for solar and Smart Grid integration. Looking to the future of charging infrastructure, Coulomb Technologies will showcase Level 2 (208/240V @ 30A) technology support for fleet and consumer electric vehicles (EVs) with its CT2000 family of charging stations at Plug-in 2009 in Long Beach, Calif. Booth #215, August 10-13, 2009.
“In the past year, Coulomb has been traveling emission-free at warp speed,” said Richard Lowenthal CEO of Coulomb Technologies. “Coulomb has installed infrastructure worldwide through a distribution network available in all 50 states and in much of Europe through our partner company, 365 Energy. In January, the City of San Jose, Calif. became the first installation of Coulomb’s charging stations, and by the end of 2009 we expect to have shipped 1000 stations. While sales are booming, we are excited about our new initiatives, and important new services for the benefit of drivers, station owners and utilities.”
First year Coulomb milestones include:
- Fleet Charging: Fleet charging stations are currently being used in Sonoma County, San Francisco and Amsterdam. In February, 2009 San Francisco became the first city in the world to install networked charging stations for the City of San Francisco fleet, City CarShare and Zipcar fleet vehicles. Today these fleet charging stations located in front of City Hall are the most used of all charging stations on the ChargePoint(sm) Network.
Working closely with the County of Sonoma’s fleet staff, Coulomb engineers developed advanced features within its Fleet Portal that will pave the way for mass adoption of electric vehicles for fleets by providing the ability to manage and optimize fleet vehicles. For example, in Sonoma County, fleet managers can now easily track, monitor and export usage data on a per-charging-session basis with information including start/stop time and duration, kWh, driver, vehicle, GHG emission savings, and the checking-in and out of electric fleet vehicles. Notification is also available if a vehicle is not returned (or plugged in) by a designated time, and when a car is completely charged.
“With 63 million passenger fleet vehicles polluting the air every day in North America the fleets are going to need a fully integrated solution of vehicles and charging infrastructure,” said Jay Giraud CEO of Rapid Electric Vehicles. “These new fleets are going to need convenient charging stations to meet the mandates for clean air emission standards. We are excited to be working with a market leader like Coulomb to bring Level 2 charging to fleets with our REV Pack solution which transforms in-service gasoline fleet vehicles into 100 percent electric vehicles.” - Advanced Open Architecture: Coulomb’s charging network is open to all drivers of plug-in vehicles with an architecture that has been developed by an engineering staff with its roots in networking and advanced client server architectures. The ChargePoint Network has the ability to individually control each charging station in real time. Advanced features include authorization and authentication via an integrated RFID reader. The reader recognizes and identifies ChargePoint Network Smart Cards, RFID credit cards and authorization smart cards from other charging systems. Drivers have the option of paying for a single charging session by placing a toll free call to the 24/7 number on each charging station. Or, they can become a ChargePoint Network subscriber by going to www.mychargepoint.net and choosing a monthly subscription plan that fits their lifestyle. In 2010, coinciding with the introduction of mainstream EVs, the ChargePoint Network will accept both Visa PayWave™ and MasterCard PayPass™ credit and debit cards as a way to pay for charging sessions.
- Smart home charging for consumers: Coulomb is currently developing a networked charging station for the home. The product will support all plug-in electric vehicles utilizing the J1772™ standard. This product will allow drivers to take advantage of Time-Of-Use (TOU) rates, provide easy home charging with real-time charging status on Google Maps, and notify drivers by SMS and email on charging status and exception conditions. Coulomb is working closely with automakers on this smart home charging station product designed to support high availability and low fueling costs via remote management, Smart Grid integration and V2G readiness.
- Partnerships: In the past year, Coulomb has engaged in technology partnerships including GridPoint for the first ever Smart Grid enabled smart charging stations for EVs. In addition to Smart Grid integration, the first networked solar powered charging station for EVs was announced by Coulomb partner Carbon Day (April, 2009) and the world’s first Green McDonald’s featuring ChargePoint charging stations that opened in Cary, North Carolina (through Coulomb partner NovaCharge).
- Customers, customers and more customers: Forward thinking government agencies and businesses all over the world are supporting clean air and domestic fuels by installing networking charging stations. Coulomb currently has more than 57 customers worldwide. From corporations including the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in Chico, Calif., to Coulomb’s latest unveiling via DMC Green at the first green gas station in West Sacramento, Coulomb’s charging stations are taking root.
About Coulomb Technologies, Inc.
Coulomb Technologies headquartered in Campbell, Calif., offers a family of products and services that provide a plug-in vehicle charging infrastructure, which includes ChargePoint Networked Charging Stations ranging in capability from 120V 16A to 240V 80A AC charging to future 120kW DC charging. Coulomb applies networking technology to the challenge of charging electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids in order to fuel the electric transportation industry. Coulomb's ChargePoint Network www.mychargepoint.net addresses the needs of drivers, utilities, governments, and parking space owners. Follow Coulomb on Twitter at twitter.com/coulombevi.