Renewable Gossip

McDonald’s Deploys Plug-in Car Charging Station

The McDonald’s restaurant in Cary, NC, will become the first location in the fast food restaurant chain in more than a decade to offer electric car recharging. The deployment of a ChargePoint charging station for plug-in vehicles is part of the Cary restaurant’s efforts to go green. Ric Richards, the independent owner of the McDonald’s, is building the new restaurant with eco-friendly materials and technologies.

For decades, critics have criticized McDonald’s for questionable enviromental practics. Now, the McDonald’s in Cary, NC installed a charging station for low- or zero-emission plug-in cars.

“Our customers will have a dedicated place to park and recharge their vehicles,” said Richards. “McDonald’s is enabling a better environment for future generations by supporting zero-emissions transportation infrastructure.” The new “green” McDonald’s in Cary will open on July 14.

A McDonald’s location in Phoenix, Ariz., installed a charging station in the late 1990s to accommodate a previous wave of electric cars. There are also plans to install plug-in car charging stations at McDonald’s locations in Sweden.

Widespread adoption of plug-in cars will partly depend on the establishment of convenient recharging locations where drivers live and work. ChargePoint and other providers are installing its first charging stations to anticipate the introduction of electric cars and plug-in hybrids—not expected in significant numbers until 2011 or later. Analysts forecast that as many as 1 million charging stations will be installed throughout the United States by 2015. ChargePoint is a private fee-based network of charging stations, providing grid access and related services for owners of plug-in cars.

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