Electric-car charging station opens in Virginia Beach

VIRGINIA BEACH

There are few electric cars on Virginia roads today, but Richard Good is betting there will be plenty soon.

Good, president of Solar Services Inc., has opened the first commercial electric-car charging station in the state - two pumps that can fill up a vehicle in the same time it takes to watch a movie, and for less than the ticket price.

"This is the future, this is coming. So why wait?" Good asked Monday while showing off the new station, located outside of his solar-energy business at 877 Seahawk Circle, across from Lynnhaven Mall.

The long-awaited Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf, along with a plug-in version of the Toyota Prius, are due in showrooms early next year. And while most buyers also will purchase a home-based charging pack, Good figures owners still will need a place to top off their electric vehicles.

He foresees charging stations at doctors' and dentists' offices, next to shopping centers, beauty shops - any spot where a person spends a couple hours and would want to return to a juiced-up car.

His charging units, which resemble gas station air hose pumps, cost about $7,000 each. But the government is providing a

50 percent tax credit as part of an incentive to go green.

Home-charging packs cost about $2,000 a piece, with a tax credit of $2,000 for each one, Good said.

The knock against electric cars is that they don't really save energy, given how electricity needs will increase - meaning, more coal- and natural gas-powered power plants - to fuel such vehicles. But Good said that equation is too simplistic.

"The cars will increase our electricity usage, yes," he said. "But it can be done cheaper and more efficiently. And you no longer will need to pay for gasoline, which is certainly cleaner for the environment."

The station's opening in Virginia Beach comes as Virginia is attempting to catch up to other states in electric-vehicle transportation. In the summer, Gov. Bob McDonnell said he wanted Virginia to be a national leader in electric vehicles - not only in their use on highways, but in the manufacturing of their parts and batteries.

In October, the state released an electric car master plan, a blueprint for expanding opportunities and overcoming obstacles. One hurdle mentioned in the report is a shortage of charging stations.

While the Virginia Department of Transportation and energy company Dominion Resources vowed to open stations at rest areas along major highways, only one is operating today - at New Kent, west of Williamsburg, on westbound Interstate 64. It is a 110-volt station, a Level 1 technology, which can take up to 15 hours to charge an electric car. One environmentalist called the station "a gimmick, a show piece." But it's free.

There also are pumps outside a private business in Danville and another at the Center for Innovative Technology in Northern Virginia.

Alleyn Harned, a program manager for Virginia Clean Cities, a group that promotes alternative energy, said Virginia is "a second tier state" when it comes to electric cars. He said only 85 vehicles exist statewide today. Most are prototypes used sparingly on college campuses and around utility yards.

Harned called the station at Solar Services in Virginia Beach "a good business move and a great sign for a greener future."

The station is a Level 2 facility, Good described, capable of powering up a vehicle in less than two hours. The fee: about $4.50.

The device includes a scanning eye, across which buyers can swipe their electric-car fueling cards. These buyers would later receive a bill from the provider, a California company called ChargePoint, which also would pay Solar Services a small share of the sale, Good said.

As for himself, Good said he looks forward to buying a Chevy Volt.

"And I'll know just where I can power it up," he said, pointing to the pump outside his office window.

Scott Harper, (757) 446-2340, scott.harper@pilotonline.com