Indianapolis-area mall offers free charging at new "plug-in ecosystem"

Indianapolis-area plug-in vehicle owners looking to burn a bunch of dollars at the local mall can at least save a few by plugging into a solar-powered station at the Clay Terrace mall in Carmel, the New York Timesreports.

The Simon Property Group-owned center last week deployed what it calls its "Plug-In Ecosystem," which includes a fast charger that pulls electricity from the grid as well as solar panels that can offset some of that power use. Simon Property, Duke Energy, Toshiba and Itochu Corp. are among the entities that partnered on the project, which lets folks charge for free.

While Indiana is home to the country's best-known fuel-powered car race, the state is also the US home ofThink, the now defunct electric-vehicle maker. Additionally, Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard has been on a crusade to eventually convert all of the city's fleet vehicles to plug-ins.

For the curious, Indiana is home to about 60 publicly accessible EV-charging stations, enough for one for every 110,000 registered vehicles – whatever their powertrain. Overall, there are about 5,400 publicly accessible EV-charging stations in the US, or about one for every 50,000 registered vehicles.



Source: Autoblog Green

Indianapolis To Replace Entire Gov’t Fleet With EVs And Hybrids By 2025

When I think of Indianapolis, my mind naturally goes to the Indy 500, one of NASCAR’s premiere events. Indianapolis hasn’t exactly garnered an image as a “green” city, but that is changing with a recent announcement from the city government. By 2025, Indianapolis plans to replace its entire government fleet with either electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles.

Mayor Greg Ballard signed the order this week, and while initial efforts will focus on government-owned sedans, the city is reportedly negotiating with automakers to purchase plug-in hybrid police cars. In addition, Indy is working with private businesses in an effort to get its fire and garbage trucks running on compressed natural gas, or CNG. Indianapolis already has more than 200 EV stations in place, with more to come.

These efforts put Indianapolis at the forefront of the green car movement, and it could be the first city in the U.S. to have an entirely “green” government fleet. Other cities, like Austin, New York, and San Francisco will no doubt follow suit. But the fact that Indianapolis, home of one of the best-known races in the world, is leading the charge really says something about the growing appeal of going green.

Source: Wired