Business & Tech

Lenox Square Opens 4 Car Charging Stations

Customers can charge their cars for free.

Now, you can charge your electric car while you do all your Christmas shopping at Lenox Square.

The shopping mall first unveiled its four new electric vehicle charging stations, located near the food court entrance in the Lower Level Bloomingdale parking deck, on Oct. 18 in a ceremony which included speakers Robin Suggs, area mall manager for Simon Property Group; Jacob Winkler of ECOtality, Inc.; Bob Stoner chairman of the board of Livable Buckhead, Inc. and Don Francis, executive director of Clean Cities Atlanta.

The four charging stations at Lenox Square are self-service, allowing shoppers to "pull up and plug in" and will be available for free during an introductory period only. After that, a nominal fee will be assessed, according to a release from Lenox Square.

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Simon Property Group, the developer and manager of Lenox Square and Phipps Plaza, have partnered with ECOtality for the project of installing EV charging stations at all of its outlets across the nation. Livable Buckhead, Inc. was also a partner in the project. ECOtality is a San Francisco-based company focusing on , clean electric transportation and storage technologies with a history in electric transportation dating back to 1989.

“When we heard about ECOtality’s EV Project, we immediately thought of Simon Properties and Lenox Square,” stated Livable Buckhed Executive Director Denise Starling in a release. “Connecting our partners to projects like this builds Buckhead’s green infrastructure and positions us for sustainable growth over the long-term.”

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The Blink EV charging stations are offered free as part of ECOtality's The EV Project, a public-private partnership with the Department of Energy, funded in part by the U.S. Department of Energy through a federal stimulus grant and made possible by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

ECOtality is the project manager of The EV Project, a research initiative to help build America’s future EV infrastructure, which is now in nine states and 21 major metropolitan areas.

Qualified Atlanta-area residents who own either the Nissan LEAF or Chevy Volt will receive a free residential Blink wall mount charger as well as an installation credit of up to $400, subject to certain conditions, once they sign up for The EV Project. Residents and commercial hosts interested in participating can sign up at http://www.theevproject.com/sign-up.php or by emailing atlanta@ecotality.com.

Ben Echols, Georgia Power’s electric transportation program manager, stated that Georgia Power is excited about projects like this one, which grow charging infrastructure in the area.

Georgia Power offers a Plug-In Electric Vehicle rate that offers customers a significant discount on electricity during the hours, 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., every day.

"It’s easy for customers to take advantage of our special rate by simply programming their Blink charger or setting a timer on their vehicle. In addition, they can shift other home energy use and save even more money on their electric bill,” Echols stated.

In addition to Livable Buckhead, Simon and Georgia Power praising the project as a win-win for Atlanta, the Metro Atlanta Chamber and Atlanta's sustainability office and Clean Cities Atlanta also see the project as a positive move for Atlanta's economic and environmental future.

Executive Director of Clean Cities-Atlanta Don Francis said the charging stations installation is "another step in the reduction of the nation’s dependency on petroleum for transportation... The expansion of the EV Project into metro Atlanta will significantly impact the deployment of clean, alternative fueled electric vehicles.”


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