McDonald's goes green !

McDonald’s Corporation, the leading global foodservice retailer, and NovaCharge, a leader in the deployment of EV charging infrastructure, today announced the deployment of electric vehicle charging stations. McDonald's will open the first "green" restaurant, built with eco-friendly materials and technologies, including ChargePoint™ Networked Charging Stations for electric vehicles from Coulomb Technologies, making it the first of its kind in the United States.

Ric Richards, president of Richard's Advantage, Inc. and owner/operator of the new McDonald's, set a strategy in 2007 to build a state of the art restaurant dedicated to sustainability and reduced energy consumption. By partnering with NovaCharge, the new McDonald's will deliver yet another new facet of energy conservation by enabling EV drivers to have a place to recharge their vehicles, while enjoying their meal. NovaCharge, the exclusive distributor in the southeastern U.S. for Coulomb Technologies provided all aspects of sales and support for this installation. “The networked grid-friendly charging stations are a perfect complement to the many innovative green features of the restaurant,” said Ric Richards, “Our customers will have a dedicated place to park and recharge their vehicles.”

The use of green building technologies and electric vehicles are two key facets of America’s efforts to transform the nation's economy and address environmental concerns. For EV’s to become mainstream, they must be as easy to use and to fuel as their gasoline counterparts. To make this a reality, electric vehicle charging stations must be conveniently available where people work and play.

The restaurant has installed EV charging stations for plug-in electric vehicles, which are enabled by the unique capabilities of the ChargePoint Network.The ChargePoint Network enabled charging stations provide:

• A secure, safe, reliable way for consumers to charge their electric vehicles anywhere.
• The ability for EV drivers to find, and navigate to, available open stations.
• Secure, authorized access charging, while eliminating energy theft and cord theft.
• An infrastructure that enables rapid growth of the market for plug-in electric vehicles of all types.
• Administrative monitoring and control services to allow utilities to optimize grid use.

Source : Coulomb Technologies, July 21st, 2009