EV Charging Stations Coming to Lakewood Ranch

Published Monday, October 3, 2011 2:03 amby Staff Report LAKEWOOD RANCH – Lakewood Ranch, the largest green-certified master-planned community in the state, has begun installation on two electric car charging stations. Work is expected to be complete within the next 30 days at two different locations—one at the University Parkway Information Center, and the other at Main Street.The stations are designed to accommodate all-electric cars, such as the new Ford Focus Electric, Tesla, and the Nissan Leaf, as well as plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, such as the Chevy Volt or the Fisker Karma. The stations will also be able to re-charge other types of vehicles such as electric golf carts, neighborhood electric vehicles, as well as electric scooters and motorcycles.The approximately $16,000 cost of the charging station equipment was provided by Charge Point America, a public/private partnership program sponsored by Coulomb Technologies and the Department of Energy to provide electric vehicle charging infrastructure to 15 selected regions in the United States.According to their website, the program is made possible by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act through the Transportation Electrification Initiative administered by the Department of Energy. The objective is to accelerate the development and production of electric vehicles to substantially reduce petroleum consumption, reduce greenhouse gas production, and create jobs. President Barack Obama has said he hopes to have a million plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles on the road by 2015.The area's primary developer, Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, Inc. will pay to run power to both stations and there will be no charge for driver hook up and charging, at least for the time being. The stations will be connected to an online network, so drivers will be able to use their GPS systems to easily find them, or use their smart phones to find a station that is vacant.