© 2024 Innovation Trail

Charge it: Businesses turn to electric car drivers

Hybrid vehicles are poised to become the standard for what people see on the road, and soon bona fide electric cars will be added to the mix. That could be a boon for those in the business of charging electric cars.

Half Price Books near Dallas, TX is taking an entrepreneurial approach and has installed a charging station in its parking lot for customers to use. The company says the idea is to allow customers to recharge their vehicles while browsing for books or having lunch.

And according to the Dallas Morning News, it’s free. However, next September, executives could begin charging people for the service.

The charging station will also send you text messages, giving status updates on the recharging process.

Car charging could become the new coffeshop wifi.  There’s an incentive to choose and linger at the shop that offers the perk.

Planners in the Syracuse area are now figuring out where to plot 75 charging stations around Onondaga County. A company called EvPlug Site was awarded almost $2 million in federal stimulus funds to make the region electric and hybrid vehicle friendly.

Want to comment on this story?  Visit our Facebook page.

Innovation Trail alumnus Ryan Morden is originally from Seattle. He graduated from the University of Washington with a bachelor's in journalism, minoring in political science and Scandinavian studies. Morden was Morning Edition producer and reporter at WRVO before moving over to the Innovation Trail project. Before landing at WRVO, Morden covered the Washington State legislature as a correspondent for Northwest News Network (N3), a group of nine NPR affiliates in the northwest.
Related Content