NRG to Give Major Boost to Houston's EV Charging Infrastructure
NRG Energy Inc. is launching the nation’s first privately funded, comprehensive electric vehicle infrastructure in Houston, the start of a rollout across Texas, in 2011.
Under the brand name eVgo (ee-vee-go), NRG will provide EV owners throughout the greater Houston area with a convenient and affordable “home and away” fueling package.
It starts with the installation of a Level 2 home charger at the new EV owner’s home. The Level 2 charger can deliver up to 25 miles per charging hour, allowing consumers to fully charge their vehicles overnight while they sleep.
In addition to procuring and installing these home charging stations, NRG also will install and maintain public charging stations conveniently located along major freeways, in key shopping and business districts, at popular retailers and in multi-family community and workplace parking areas across Harris County, including Best Buy, Walgreens and H.E.B. NRG’s own “
Freedom Stations” – it plans on having 50 up and running by mid-2011 – will also offer DC fast-charging options, enabling EV drivers to add 30 miles of range in as little as 10 minutes.
Access to these facilities and services are available to EV drivers for $49 to $89 per month, making EV charging simple, predictable and hassle-free. eVgo will be an “unlimited miles” package, offering unprecedented mobility at a fixed price for Houston-area EV drivers.
All together, NRG plans to invest more than $10 million in Houston’s public charging station infrastructure and will be the first company to equip an entire major market with the privately funded infrastructure needed for successful EV adoption and integration. The company is ready to expand these services across Texas as early adoption of electric vehicles grows and spreads in the state that leads the nation in energy innovation and deployment.
“The new age of personal transportation begins here in Houston, with a new wave of exciting plug-in electric vehicles fueled by NRG. We are committed to ensure that electric vehicle ownership is fun, affordable and ultra-convenient, and that EV owners feel 100 percent comfortable driving their plug-in car anywhere in the greater Houston area, secure in the knowledge that a fast charger is never more than a few miles away,” said David Crane, president and CEO of NRG Energy. “NRG’s eVgo offerings will allow Houston EV owners to drive with complete range confidence and cost certainty, immune to spikes in the price of gasoline or the other limitations of conventional car ownership. EV drivers will also know that they are making a difference in terms of our national energy security and the health of our local environment given that tailpipe emissions are the single largest source of air emissions in the greater Houston area.”