CAMPBELL, Calif. –
ChargePoint wants to change the face of electrical charging stations — and
expand the network of such places throughout the country, Slate.com reports.
Right now, ChargePoint has around 12,000 electric chargers for public access
across 14 countries. In the United States, the company installed around 70% of
the public chargers.
ChargePoint is about to
debut the CT4000, a new AC electric car charger with an LCD screen for ad
streaming and the ability to hook up two cars at once. “Driving an EV is
different from driving a gas car,” said Pat Romano, ChargePoint CEO. “With a
gas car you drive around until the little yellow [gas] light comes on, then you
find a gas station and fill up.”
Romano envisions a much
different network of electric charging stations in every major city across the
country, saying he doesn’t want to duplicate the nationwide system of 160,000
gasoline stations. He wants to shape an unique network that centers on retail
parking lots and office building lots, where drivers could recharge while
shopping or working.
ChargePoint is already
testing that vision around San Francisco, with its more than 1,000 publicly
accessible charging stations. Romano resides in that area and drives a hybrid
car that he rarely fills up with gasoline anymore. With the proliferation of charging
stations in his area, he “can leapfrog from electric lily pad to electric lily
pad without thinking.”