For Crying Out Loud! Where Can I Charge My EV NOW?

by | Sep 17, 2019 | Electric Vehicles, Business Intelligence, Fleet Management

I need to know now! Where Can I Charge My EV?

One of the biggest fears associated with a fleet deployment of electric vehicles is what will happen when things do not go as planned. In other words, what if the unthinkable happens? What if my driver needs to charge while on the road? What’s more, what if my driver is far from familiar locations, facing a deadline?

The last thing you want your drivers asking is “Where can I charge my EV now?”

One of the greatest things about living in the 21st century is Crowd Sourced Open Data Initiatives. These are projects like Open Street Maps or Wikipedia, where individuals just like us contribute what they know to the greater community. This allows the project to amass a great deal of usable data and serve it back to the public on the web. In most cases, they will suggest users volunteer donations, rather than charging any user a fee.

Open Collective is providing the solution to “Where can I charge My EV?” through the Open Charge Map Initiative.

When you visit the site you will find it easy to navigate. You are able to add the charging stations you have found, or search the map for a charging station near your location. You can even check the map first, and plan your route based on the availability of charging stations along the way. Information about the budget, expenses, and donations received are easily accessible on their project page at Open Collective as well.

It took me less than 5 seconds to find 2 charging stations!

Open Charge Map

Both stations are just across the highway from our corporate office. Just click on the green charging station icons. That will open a window with all of the details for what kind of chargers are available. There is even a section to add details or comments if there is some detail you want to add.

Open Charge Map Charging Station Details
Now that your fears about finding a place to charge are put to rest, it is time to evaluate what fossil fuel vehicles to replace and what EV to replace them with. That is the subject of an upcoming post on tools to evaluate, based on your current vehicle use, what are the logical choices for your fleet.

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