Shop-a-holics with finer tastes are used to extravagant unveilings of new products or fashions at the
King of Prussia Mall in Montgomery County. On Friday, the largest shopping mall on the East Coast hosted a different kind of unveiling.
Local politicians and mall officials were on hand at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for four new electric vehicle charging stations at the mall. The stations will allow drivers to simply pull up and plug in. Charging will be free during an introductory period, and prices will be established by
350Green, the EV charging service provider working with the mall. Starting this month, mall shoppers will have access to a pair of Level 2 chargers at 208/420 volts (standard for all electric cars) located in front of Nordstrom in the upper level parking deck. Two more units are slated for installation on the upper level deck of the court near Bloomingdale's.
The self-serve stations, partially funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, are able to "top off" or "partially charge" an electric vehicle in anywhere from one to two hours. Electric cars are nothing new to King of Prussia Mall. The mall's public safety team uses an electric Gem Car, which operates on a 72-volt battery system.
More than a
dozen new plug-in electric car models are expected to arrive on the market by next year, fueled in part by President Obama's goal to have one million electric vehicles on the road by 2015.
Source: King of Prussia Mall
Writer: Joe Petrucci