McDonalds to offer free charging stations

[accordingly]

Watts are free at new McDonald's - Technology - News & Observer

CARY -- When it opens Tuesday, the McDonald's at 1299 Kildaire Farm Road will be the country's first McDonald's with an electric vehicle charging station.

The station will allow drivers of electric cars to plug them in and charge them while they eat.

McDonald's is one of several chains exploring green store design. Wal-Mart and Target are revamping their stores to conserve energy. Subway has opened its first stand-alone LEED-certified restaurant in the state in Chapel Hill.

The Cary McDonald's is under review to be LEED-certified by the U.S. Green Building Council. It would become the third McDonald's to receive certification, after restaurants in Savannah, Ga., and Chicago.

To start, the restaurant will feature two charging stations, which will sit at the front of a parking space. If the feature proves popular, McDonald's can expand the system to add more stations, said Helda Rodriguez, president of NovaCharge, the Florida distributor of the ChargePoint stations.

The charge is free.

Obviously 15 minutes of charge time is not going to do much with today's EVs, nor will the pool of early EV adopters and McDonalds customers necessarily overlap perfectly, but I do think it's great news. Other businesses will undoubtedly copy this and it's a great step forward twoards public acceptance.

[TonyPSchaefer]

+1

I agree on all points.

[bedrock8x]

I hope it is not a coin operated charging station.
This day will come.

[Sphyrna]

Originally Posted by accordingly

Watts are free at new McDonald's - Technology - News & Observer

Obviously 15 minutes of charge time is not going to do much with today's EVs, nor will the pool of early EV adopters and McDonalds customers necessarily overlap perfectly, but I do think it's great news. Other businesses will undoubtedly copy this and it's a great step forward twoards public acceptance.

Actually I think I saw the chargepoint stations at our Electric Beach Bash earlier this year, and yeah, they can get a lot done in less time than plugging into a regular 110V AC outlet. So maybe not a full charge in 15-30 minutes but a substantial boost is possible.

[Zythryn]

While not a big McDonalds fan, if they offer this in my area and other places don't, it would result in me eating at McDonalds more often.
I also would be likely to take my time while eating, quite possibly eating more?

[PriusLewis]

McDonalds accomplished their mission with this already: some positive publicity to counter the negative publicity about the energy used to produce their beef, and the lack of healthiness in their offerings. One store? You can bet that if all cars became electric tomorrow, that charge station would have an ATM card reader slapped on the side of it. Which might be a good start-up business to go after: profit-making charge stations to install at local businesses. Hmmm... might have to write up a business plan...

[efusco]

Nice, while 15 minutes isn't much, I suspect that my family spends 30-45min when we go to the "arches". An opportunity charge of that duration, esp. if it's a 220V could certainly give a nice 25-30% range extension. If I'm on a drive at the limits of my battery's range this could be just the opportunity I need to make that drive practical in my EV.

[JimN]

Originally Posted by PriusLewis

McDonalds accomplished their mission with this already: some positive publicity to counter the negative publicity about the energy used to produce their beef, and the lack of healthiness in their offerings. One store? You can bet that if all cars became electric tomorrow, that charge station would have an ATM card reader slapped on the side of it. Which might be a good start-up business to go after: profit-making charge stations to install at local businesses. Hmmm... might have to write up a business plan...

Should they add pay toilets? Water shouldn't be free & when ya gotta go, ya gotta go.

[Zythryn]

Originally Posted by PriusLewis

McDonalds accomplished their mission with this already: some positive publicity to counter the negative publicity about the energy used to produce their beef,...

Not really, the fact that beef takes more energy than just about any other food is not specific to McDonalds. I don't think they have any 'countering' of that fact to do as they already offer a number of alternatives.

Originally Posted by PriusLewis

...and the lack of healthiness in their offerings.

Again, this seems to not be bothering them much at all. They have already responded to this by offering healthier alternatives. Their offering of Salads could be seen as a counter to the publicity of how 'unhealthy' their food is, adding charge stations? Not so much.

[PriusLewis]

Originally Posted by JimN

Should they add pay toilets? Water shouldn't be free & when ya gotta go, ya gotta go.

Potable water will be in more of a worldwide shortage than energy in the not to distant future. The price of toilet maintenance is part of the overhead, but if water skyrockets, yes, I would expect to have to pay to p.

Originally Posted by Zythryn

Not really, the fact that beef takes more energy than just about any other food is not specific to McDonalds. I don't think they have any 'countering' of that fact to do as they already offer a number of alternatives.

Probably true.

Originally Posted by Zythryn

Again, this seems to not be bothering them much at all. They have already responded to this by offering healthier alternatives. Their offering of Salads could be seen as a counter to the publicity of how 'unhealthy' their food is, adding charge stations? Not so much.

Besides, I agree that they will sell what people want.

My point was that no corporation does anything without a profit motive, so this charging station is a publicity stunt. Not a bad idea in the long run, but still....

What I find interesting is that we will see this in retail long before employers will help out their employees by offering recharging stations (yes, some already do, but there's far less incentive for them than for a retail mass marketing firm).