Buying an electric car is scary, even if you've done lots of research and crunched the numbers. That's because driving and charging an EV is a completely new experience, and a novice needs some guidance. The purpose of this post is to provide CA electric vehicle owners with a one-stop shop for information that will make your EV experience positive from day one.
Assuming that you have an outlet or an EV charger installed in your garage or parking location, the next step is signing up to get Coulomb Chargepoint and Ecotality Blink network access. Chargepoint and Blink are the two largest EV charging infrastructure networks in CA. Other networks such as NRG's EVGo and SemaConnect's ChargePro will be expanding in CA in the coming years, so stay tuned for more charging opportunities.
In the meantime...
Sign up for a Blink account here: https://www.blinknetwork.com/membership.html
Sign up for a Chargepoint account here: https://na.chargepoint.com/register
Now that you have access to chargers, you'll need to find them. EV charger finders apps are available for most smartphones. My favorites are Recargo and Plugshare, because they're comprehensive (they include all chargers, even non-internet connected ones), accurate (charger locations are crowd sourced), and social (comments and check-ins welcomed). In the future, it is expected that charger locations, availability and reservation services will be part of in-vehicle navigation systems.
Until then, check out and download apps from....
Plugshare: http://www.plugshare.com
Recargo: http://www.recargo.com
Because YOU are an early adopter of this exciting and socially responsible sustainable mobility solution, you deserve a rebate from CA. It's important that you do this right now because clean vehicle rebates are how the California Air Resources Board tracks EV sales and effectiveness of incentives for EVs. Applying for a rebate sends the right message. The administrator of the clean vehicle rebate program is the California Center for Sustainable Energy. You can apply for up to $2500 here (it takes up to 60 days to get your check): http://energycenter.org/index.php/incentive-programs/clean-vehicle-rebate-project
For many Californians, carpool lane or HOV access is a major incentive for buying an EV. In case you're unfamiliar, it's the white sticker that you see on plug-in electric, natural gas and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. The application for clean air vehicle decals is here (you must mail the form with $8.00, and it takes 2 weeks to get stickers): http://www.dmv.ca.gov/forms/reg/reg1000.htm
Electric vehicles have many societal benefits, including and not limited to clean air, energy security and domestic job creation benefits. That's the reason that you, as an EV adopter, also qualify for up to a $7500 tax rebate when you file your taxes. Fill out form 8936 and attach it to your tax return. It can be found here: http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/taxevb.shtml
Don't forget to explore your clean driving territory. I'm confident that with fast charging and EV charger finder tools you can really break the tether and explore a wider EV activity space. I'll be following this post up with my EV stories and other related items. Happy New Year everyone!
