Smart Driving. Now.

ParkPod’s Luxury Hotel Pedigree Grows

jschaffer — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 03:46:20 +0000

California and Germany headquartered ParkPod proved its commitment to the high-end hospitality segment by installing the West Coast’s first high speed (Level 2) charger at the Hilton San Francisco Financial District last September.

Now, company officials indicate, we’ll begin to see the full extent of that commitment as a spate of other premier hotel brands prepare to install ParkPod chargers over the next few months.

InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel

Among the new locations are the InterContinental San Francisco, the Ritz-Carlton Marina del Rey, and the InterContinental Mark Hopkins.

The long preamble to mainstream Electric Vehicle adoption is finally becoming reality, it seems, as major companies make investments in preparation for consumer demand.

It all bodes well for those early adopters taking delivery of Volts, Leafs, Teslas, and Codas over the next several months. The pride of investing in clean transportation is strong with this crowd, of course, but the fact is that each new, conveniently-located charger means less day-to-day stress about where on earth to plug in. And not running out of “gas” is something just about anyone could be proud of.

Major Parking Operator Invests in Car Chargers

jschaffer — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 05:05:23 +0000

Behind every luxury hotel is a company that understands parking. Safely storing hundreds of cars out of sight from the patrons, but close enough for easy access, is a science. In San Francisco, more often than not, this science is practiced by City Park, a major lot operator in the city by the Bay since 1953, when brothers Nicholas and Stephan Leonoudakis began operations in the old Produce District–now the site of the Embarcadero Center.

City Park Pay Kiosk

To date, City Park’s environmental credentials have dispelled any notion that this is an old school company, but very recently its executives have decided to up the ante by implementing ParkPod high speed electric vehicle chargers at two major clients. Those who know City Park’s uniquely green personality (rumor has it CEO Tim Leonoudakis drives a Chevy Volt) won’t be surprised by this development one bit, but there’s a reason it’s great news for the early electric vehicle market, as well. It’s one thing when government-funded electric vehicle chargers are featured at city hall press events–it’s quite another when mainstay urban companies invest in the technology. It means electric vehicles are here for the long haul.

ParkPod Integrates Charging Infrastructure for Cambio

jschaffer — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 02:13:32 +0000

Cambio, a leader in Europe’s rapidly growing car sharing sector, deployed the first Electric Vehicles in its fleet on March 1st, starting in Hamburg. ParkPod, based in San Francisco and Karlsruhe, Germany, will be delivering charging stations as well as the integration with cambio’s fleet management system. Greenpeace Energy will be the renewable energy provider.

ParkPod’s stations will enable cambio’s fleet management system with critical real-time information, including the exact time a car begins charging, the status of the charge and if the charge has completed. The combination of this information and the distance requirements indicated by cambio customers will allow the fleet management system to optimally allocate vehicles for customer use. In addition, the user-friendly design will make operation of the charging stations convenient and easy for cambio’s customers.

“We chose ParkPod as Electric Vehicle Infrastructure partner because of their commitment to develop the optimal customer oriented experience,” said Joachim Schwartz, cambio’s CEO. “Now we have the first charging station that, if necessary, you can even operate while dressed for a dinner party. The cable never touches the ground and the chargers, unlike others in the market, are very attractive.” This first phase of cambio’s Electric Vehicle rollout, which includes seven parking spots with ParkPod charging stations, takes place after an extensive pilot program, involving more than one hundred cambio customers.

ParkPod’s CEO and co-founder Rainer Genschel is excited about the partnership and underscored both companies’ emphasis of customer needs. “Cambio’s leadership in European car sharing results from its strong focus on customer experience. They were able to articulate the exact specifications of their Electric Vehicle charging infrastructure, which enabled us to develop a great solution for the car sharing market. We’re looking forward to continually improving this customer-oriented solution in close cooperation with our partners.”

Read the full press release here.

ParkPod + GM: a joint press event in San Francisco

jschaffer — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 02:16:55 +0000

Check out a few photos below from the recent press event at the Hilton in downtown San Francisco, hosted by ParkPod and General Motors, with additional sponsorship by the Hilton and by Ace Parking.

Several key executives, including San Francisco city administrator, Ed Lee, and GM director of global energy systems and infrastructure commercialization, Britta Gross, discussed the roll-out of the Chevrolet Volt in the Bay Area and the importance of convenient charging for electric vehicles and extended range electric vehicles. “Installing charging stations at locations where vehicles spend a lot of time – like the ParkPod station here at the San Francisco Financial District Hilton – is a smart use of resources that will help expand the market for electric vehicles,” said Britta Gross when asked about GM’s interest in installations like this. Owners will be looking for logical places to recharge whenever vehicles are parked for extended periods of time, such as workplace, hotels, and shopping malls.

A 2011 Chevrolet Volt is plugged into a newly installed electric vehicle charging station manufactured by ParkPod at the San Francisco Financial District Hilton on Thursday. The charging station is part of a demonstration by a group of local businesses that want to expand EV charging infrastructure in the Bay Area as electric and extended-range electric vehicles such as the Volt come to market this year. The Volt, which can travel between 25 to 50 miles on battery before switching to gasoline, has the capability to charge on a regular 120-volt home electrical outlet, but the 240-volt pictured here can cut charging time in half to approximately four hours.

ParkPod Co-CEO Rainer Genschel, and Britta Gross, director of global energy systems and infrastructure commercialization at General Motors, demonstrate a newly installed electric vehicle charging station on a 2011 Chevrolet Volt at the San Francisco Financial District Hilton. The demonstration was part of a news conference on Thursday announcing the partnership between ParkPod, local businesses and supported by General Motors to increase the number of electric vehicle charging stations in the Bay Area. The Volt, which can travel approximately 25 to 50 miles on battery before switching to gasoline, has the capability to charge on a 120-volt home electrical outlet, but the 240-volt pictured here can cut charging time in half.

Britta Gross, director of global energy systems and infrastructure commercialization at General Motors, discusses the installation of a new electric vehicle charging station at a news conference Thursday at the San Francisco Financial District Hilton. The new charging station is part of a pilot project launched by ParkPod and local businesses and supported by General Motors to expand the Bay Area’s electric vehicle infrastructure. The project timing coincides with the launch of the 2011 Chevrolet Volt in California.

Coming Soon: Revenge of the Electric Car

jschaffer — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 01:13:10 +0000

ParkPod at the World Bank Healthy Homes Expo

jschaffer — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 03:07:27 +0000

ParkPod was very pleased to receive an invitation from the World Bank to present information about electric vehicle charging at its Healthy Homes Expo last month. The World Bank is ahead of the curve in educating its staff on the how-to’s of vehicle charging in employee parking garages, as well as affirming the positive environmental impact of embracing electric transportation.

ParkPod distributed literature highlighting these subjects and also presented a video showing just how easy charging will be for World Bank employees:

Ace Parking interview – Downtown San Francisco

jschaffer — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 04:58:18 +0000

Ace Parking, the lot operator at the Hilton San Francisco Financial District, recently installed a ParkPod Level 2 electric vehicle charger (story here).

We asked Ace’s manager, Damian Alonzo, a few questions about what this investment means for their business and for their customers:

One of the Country’s First High Speed Electric Vehicle Charging Stations…

jschaffer — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 00:13:54 +0000

…installed at a commercial location.

The ParkPod charging station stands at the Hilton garage entrance.

Why is that important? Because Nissan and Chevy, among others, are poised to begin releasing plug in electric and plug in hybrid cars, meaning that sufficient charging infrastructure must be in place if consumer adoption goals are to be met.

Hilton San Francisco Financial District Entrance

Most of all, charging has to be convenient–chargers have to be where drivers are already doing business: where they shop, dine, play, and sleep. An EV charging station at a major hotel in a thriving business district is actually quite significant. It touches several industries, including tourism, car rentals, and parking.

The unit (Level 2 / J1772-compliant) was installed by San Francisco-based ParkPod, LLC, at the Hilton San Francisco Financial District (full press release here). Until last week, high speed chargers (compatible with the new generation of electric vehicles) have been located at government or public facilities. Charging won’t be convenient until private businesses start investing in the infrastructure. It may be that this is now happening.

ParkPod Charger: Open to the Public at Hilton Financial District San Francisco

Who’s got the look? Auto Beauty Pageant

jschaffer — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 17:34:40 +0000

The new models are coming–some of them in just a few months. Answer our two-question poll and tell us what you think:

Ready to test drive the BMW Mini-E?

jschaffer — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 01:01:56 +0000

BMW will be a major player in the U.S. EV market–have no doubt. This video, thanks to green fuels forecast, is a fun test drive of the Mini-E through downtown Los Angeles. Where’s the backseat, you ask? Lost in favor of that giant battery you can see over the driver’s shoulder.