In February of 2010 we covered the launch of Coulomb’s iPhone and Blackberry apps that let customers of the ChargePoint electric vehicle charging network find nearby stations. This past week the company announced the release of an Android application that would offer similar benefits as well as upgrades launched in March 2010 which include realtime availability and scheduling.
Coulomb leads the pack of EV charger offerings due to their early start and support from companies like Google, strong back-end technologies and distributed partner network that spans from Australia to Europe and all over the USA. Big players such as GE are entering the space but Coulomb continues to innovate with great offerings like this free android app. We’re excited to share their updates and looking forward to more Level 3 quick chargers to meet demand for Leafs, Volts and Karmas making their way to market this year and next. Full press release follows:
Campbell, Calif., July 8, 2011 – Coulomb Technologies today introduced its latest ChargePoint® smartphone app, for Android smartphones. Now available for free in the Android Market for the US, the ChargePoint App joins Coulomb’s mobile app product family, which includes apps for the Blackberry and iPhone. Coulomb’s ChargePoint apps continue to be the industry’s first and only mobile apps that give electric vehicle (EV) drivers real-time charging station status, reservations, location information and navigation.
“We are seeing more than 20 thousand vehicle charging sessions a month on the ChargePoint Network and, on average, drivers remain plugged in for an average of eight hours a session,” said Richard Lowenthal, founder and CTO at Coulomb. “The ChargePoint app provides essential information and control for EV drivers needing to charge. Since EV charging stations are typically busy for hours, EV drivers need an app that tells them which stations are currently available to them. I have driven EVs for more than a decade and know firsthand what it means to arrive at stations that are already use or broken. That doesn’t happen on ChargePoint.”
The ChargePoint mobile apps provide an easy way to access the world’s largest EV charging network with features to locate stations near any specified address, get turn-by-turn directions, and even start and stop a charging session directly from a smart phone. Additionally, these apps allow drivers to utilize the ChargePoint Network’s new reservation feature. Drivers can now locate reservable stations, and then make, view, and cancel a reservation timeslot directly from a smart phone.
ChargePoint app features include the ability to:
- Find charging stations near you or near any specified address
- Get turn-by-turn directions to charging stations
- See the real-time availability of charging stations: Available or In Use
- Start and Stop charging sessions directly from the ChargePoint app
- Get directions from your current location to where your vehicle is charging
- Get status on your current or most recent charging session: energy used, greenhouse gas savings, time
- Receive real-time notifications of your current charging session
- View station details including: charging station configuration (voltage/current/connector), price to charge, and total cost after completing a charging session
- Search and filter for stations by: available, in use, paid, free
- Reservations: Locate reservable stations, and then make, view, and cancel reservations directly from the ChargePoint app
- View your ChargePass account info
- Ability to view your Home Charger and its status
Some features require a ChargePoint Network driver account with an activated ChargePass™ card. To create an account, or activate a ChargePass card, go to www.mychargepoint.net and click Sign Up.
If you live in an area that is not well covered by Coulomb or would like to see a comprehensive list of charging stations check out the website http://carstations.com which is built on an open source wiki model of collaborative mapping. While this site does not yet offer the ability to reserve stations it does provide space for commenting, image sharing and is rumored to have mobile apps in the works.
