Perry Hall Electric Car Charger No Longer Free
The price recently rose to $1.99 per hour outside the Perry Hall Walgreens.
Drivers who exchanged their gas guzzlers for electric or plug-in hybrids have a different definition of filling up—it involves a cord instead of a hose.
But Perry Hall residents who rely on a charging station in the Walgreens parking lot at 9621 Belair Rd. will now need to pay $1.99 per hour for the service. The ChargePoint station, installed about two months ago, started off free.
A Walgreens assistant manager, who declined to be identified, said the station began requiring payment this week, and some customers have complained.
The station is not owned or affiliated with Walgreens, the assistant manager added.
While Perry Hall is home to about a half-dozen gas stations, charging stations are few and far between.
The next closest ChargePoint charging station to the Perry Hall Walgreens is at the White Marsh Park & Ride, which remains listed as free.
A representative of ChargePoint, a Coulomb Technologies company, said each station is individually owned and the company does not disclose information on the owners.
More than 6,900 ChargePoint stations worldwide dispense about 552 megawatt hours of electric fuel each month, according to the company website.
But the future of cleaner vehicle fuel may not necessarily be found in a cord, according to a Bloomberg article published Wednesday. Wireless charging mats may soon take over the market, the article stated.
Should drivers have to pay for electrical power, or should it be provided for free? Is it economical to drive an electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle? Tell us in the comments.
Greg Stotler
2:20 pm on Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Why would it ever be free?
Tim
2:30 pm on Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Electricity isn't free in our homes, so...
Lori
3:12 pm on Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Why would charging stations be free? That reminds me. I'm going to go complain because I have to pay for gas...
Chad Shearer
3:36 pm on Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Someone has to pay for the electricity, why shouldn't it be the person driving the car ? Enough of the entitlement attitude !
Ashley
4:07 pm on Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Well I was going to comment, but you guys seem to have covered my thoughts on the matter pretty well.
You want free? It's called walking.
DS
12:42 am on Thursday, June 28, 2012
Probably still free for illegal aliens - right OWEMALLEY
John Doe
9:05 am on Thursday, June 28, 2012
Ehrlich would have bussed those illegal aliens from Philadelphia to MD to vote for him to improve on that 42%. Then, after he lost, he closes up shop, takes his ball and goes home.
Steve
5:20 pm on Thursday, June 28, 2012
When was the last time you saw an "illegal" driving a Prius??
Tim
9:38 am on Friday, June 29, 2012
Now THAT would be a funny sight to see (what Steve said)
Paul
9:26 am on Thursday, June 28, 2012
Free electricity for my car! Free cellphone plan! Free food! Free shelter! Free transportation! Free clothes! Free education! I'LL VOTE DEMOCRAT IN MARYLAND FOREVER!
John Doe
9:59 am on Thursday, June 28, 2012
Pray that you never need "free food" like some of us did growing up.
Paul
3:08 pm on Thursday, June 28, 2012
Some of the most ungrateful people I have ever seen are the recepients of free food personally delivered to their front door by church groups. I find it amazing where people put their financial priorities and the crap they will buy and then expect "OUR GOVERNMENT" to pick up the slack for their poor choices. I understand that the extremely poor and homeless need assistance, but there are massive numbers of people who have learned how to play the system and have no intention of ever giving that up. The workers are getting pretty fed up with carrying the always increasing tax load in MD. By the way, I forgot the free handicapped tags for those that really aren't handicapped, free diaper service, free baby food, free college education, and on and on and on...
John Doe
4:50 pm on Thursday, June 28, 2012
"The workers are getting pretty fed up with carrying the always increasing tax load in MD"/'"to pick up the slack for their poor choices"- I expect you to use this passion against every overweight/obese person you know since they cost taxpayers billions and billions of dollars in care - with no end in sight.
Jeanne
11:55 pm on Friday, September 21, 2012
Hi Paul, you used to have to pay for a Handicapped permit but they stopped charging people and being more strict about getting one. My husband is considered borderline for getting a permit because his asthma w/ only 50% use of his lungs is not bad enough. MVA is doing their part, why can't the police do their part? If a person parked in a handicapped spot does not have a card for the permit that matched their license the are suposed to get a heavy fine but police don't bother.
Tracey
9:01 pm on Monday, July 2, 2012
I had never heard of this before, so I looked on the interwebs. According to the chargepoint website, there are 5 of these devices at the WM park and ride that are still free.
C-Max Owner
8:56 pm on Monday, April 8, 2013
Four plug-in hybrid models, the Chevy Volt, Toyota Prius, and Ford C-Max & Fusion, charge at about 3 kW/hr. and after each hour of charging, will travel about 8 miles. At 32 mpg, and $3.50/gallon, that's maybe worth one dollar. Now tell me, if you own a restaurant, or another retail operation, would you try to profit from offering a customer to plug on and maybe get a whole buck or two of value over their sitting around at your pub for an hour or two?, at a cost to the retailer at 10 cents/kW hour of 30 cents? Use your head, it's tiny money to offer as a trivial customer courtesy. Owners of plug-in hybrids know that. Don't insult them.
Steve
5:45 pm on Tuesday, April 9, 2013
The car comes with an adaptor so you can plug it in to any outlet. The standard 110 only gives you 5 miles of range/hr whereas a 249 will give you 31 miles of range/hr and the Supercharger that's hardwired at home gets 62 miles of range per hour and it goes up from there (IE 2 S Superchargers etc. etc.)