First 4,400 Volt owners could get free home charging stations

June 17, 2010 by admin
Filed under Green Auto

2011 Chevrolet Volt – Click above for high-res image gallery

When the Chevrolet Volt finally hits the market late this year, the U.S. Department of Energy will help out by providing free 240-volt home chargers for 4,400 early buyers. The chargers are made either by ECOtality (which will install 2,600 Volt chargers) or Coulomb Technologies (1,800 chargers). In all, the DOE is helping to install around 15,000 plug-in vehicle chargers across the U.S. Free might be a relative term here. That’s what the headline says, but Tony DiSalle, product and marketing director for the Chevrolet Volt, said in a statement that, “For Volt owners who want to install a faster 240-volt charge station, we expect the Department of Energy project to save $1,000 and $2,000.” We have heard that these chargers will cost around $2,000.

What does the DOE get from this? Data. Part of the deal is that Volt drivers agree to let the DOE collect information to, “understand what is required for widespread electric vehicle use.” Nissan also has a partnership with ECOtality to bring home chargers to Leaf buyers and Ford is also working with Coulomb.

Gallery: Quick Spin: 2011 Chevrolet Volt pre-production prototype