Recharge Wrap-up: Southwest employees get Zipcar memberships; LA gets more EV chargers
Los Angeles County will expand its EV charging infrastructure with help from Schneider Electric. The partners will install 82 of Schneider Electric’s EVLink charging stations around LA to encourage more people to drive emissions-free. “There has been tremendous progress by car makers to socialize buying of electric vehicles,” says Schneider Electric’s Mike Calise, “but in order to drive cultural change and mainstream EV adoption, it is critical to build out the charging infrastructure to provide drivers with quick and convenient charging options when and where they need it.” The public will be allowed to charge for free at the stations for the first year of the pilot program. Watch the video at LA County Channel and read more in the press release, below.
A fleet of hydrogen-powered commercial vehicles will grace French roads as part of the HyWay project. 50 Renault Kangoo ZE electric vans are being fitted with hydrogen range-extending kits to be deployed near two hydrogen stations in Lyon and Grenoble. The Rhône-Alpes region is home to 80 percent of France’s hydrogen businesses. A variety of groups will use the electric/hydrogen hybrids as test vehicles for hydrogen mobility research for e period of 18 months. Read more at the Avere France website or at Tenaerrdis Energy Cluster’s site.
Partnership includes additional Zipcar locations and Zipcar membership bringing a unique transportation benefit to airline employees
BOSTON, October 10, 2014 – Zipcar today announced a first-of-its-kind partnership with Southwest Airlines to provide Zipcar memberships to nearly 45,000 Southwest and AirTran employees. With access to a Zipcar membership and discounted driving rates Monday through Friday, airline crews will now have the freedom of wheels on the ground when their flights touch down. Additionally, employees will have access to the convenience of car sharing in all Zipcar cities around the globe, including Dallas, where Southwest is headquartered and Zipcar launched this September.
The Southwest partnership will further enable Zipcar to expand its membership base while highlighting a valuable use-case for businesses whose employees need access to cars by the hour or day. To further support this partnership, Zipcar added a variety of vehicles at 27 hotels nationwide and will be looking to expand this program in the coming months. These locations will give Southwest and AirTran crew members the ability to explore their stop-over city or run errands while on a layover. Further, all Zipsters across the country traveling to these hotels will have increased access to convenient and cost-effective car sharing with more wheels in more places.
“Through our partnership with Southwest, Zipcar is able to offer an easily accessible and affordable set of wheels for airline employees who are on the road and away from their daily amenities as well as an increased Zipcar footprint in cities for all our Zipsters,” said Kaye Ceille, president of Zipcar. “As of today, thousands of Southwest employees have taken advantage of this exclusive offer and recognize the value and peace of mind provided by having a Zipcar vehicle available to them in minutes.”
“We are pleased to partner with Zipcar to offer a convenient car sharing service to our employees,” said Dave Ridley, Senior Vice President Business Development at Southwest Airlines. “The ease of use and availability of cars at our crew hotels and cities across the nation means more flexibility for our employees while they are traveling throughout the Southwest Airlines system.”
Zipcar gives its members on-demand access to a variety of cars in hundreds of cities, airports and college campuses worldwide. With Zipcars available 24/7 for reservation via Zipcar’s mobile app, through www.zipcar.com, or over the phone, Zipcar is a smart transportation option for those who need a car by the hour or by the day. Each reservation includes gas, insurance and 180 miles per day.
About Zipcar
Zipcar, the world’s leading car sharing network, has operations in urban areas and college campuses throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Spain, Austria and France. Zipcar offers more than 30 makes and models of self-service vehicles by the hour or day to residents and businesses looking for smart, simple and convenient solutions to their urban and campus transportation needs. Zipcar is a subsidiary of Avis Budget Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: CAR), a leading global provider of vehicle rental services. More information is available at www.zipcar.com.
Schneider Electric and LA County Deploy Major Expansion of EV Charging Infrastructure
PALATINE, Ill. – October 10, 2014 – Schneider Electric, a global specialist in energy management, and the Los Angeles County announce the deployment of 82 Electric Vehicle (EV) EVlink™ charging stations to empower the LA County community to drive EVs. The deployment is an important step forward for LA County, as well as the EV industry overall, as it represents a significant expansion of the EV charging infrastructure in the U.S. and encourages the adoption of EVs as a clean air solution.
With the installation of 82 Schneider Electric EVlink charging stations, LA County is encouraging community members to adopt EVs by making charging options more accessible and convenient. The charging stations allow any model of EV on the market to be charged at facilities across the county utilizing the standard J1772 EV plug. Working with the electrical distributor Associated of Los Angeles, Schneider Electric’s EVlink charging stations have been installed in 34 locations to date – from hospitals to sheriff stations to the Registrar-Recorder’s and Los Angeles Civic Center. The stations are available to the public and installed in locations where the community’s 10 million residents often visit or drive near-by. During the first year of the initial pilot program, EV owners will be able to charge their vehicles for up to four hours free of charge.
“There has been tremendous progress by car makers to socialize buying of electric vehicles, but in order to drive cultural change and mainstream EV adoption, it is critical to build out the charging infrastructure to provide drivers with quick and convenient charging options when and where they need it,” said Mike Calise, Senior Director of Electric Vehicle Solutions, Schneider Electric. “LA County is leading the way in providing their communities with EV charging solutions, enabling their citizens to confidently adopt EVs and promoting a greener method of transportation. We hope other counties will take this lead and pursue similar projects since the sum of multiple county involvements will create a tipping point for the state.”
“We are excited about the positive feedback from the public and employees regarding the implementation of this program as it empowers more of them to drive EVs,” said Marie Nunez, LA County. “We chose Schneider Electric EVlink because it was cost-effective, durable, easy to install, scalable, and driver friendly. These were partnered with Liberty PlugIn, to provide enterprise controls with open source technology for monitoring the utilization at all the EV stations.”
Schneider Electric’s work with LA County illustrates the mutual dedication to building out the EV charging infrastructure to encourage the adoption of EVs for a more sustainable transportation future. Schneider Electric EVlink charging stations are available through Schneider Electric, its distributors and network of contractors. For more information on Schneider Electric’s EVlink products and solutions, please visit http://www.schneider-electric.com/products/us/en/50600-electric-vehicle-charging-stations/.
