JC Hilton Installs Electric Vehicle Chargers

Good news for green travelers: The Hilton Garden Inn Johns Creek has added two electric-vehicle Blink charging stations through ECOtality's The EV Project. The hotel is the first one in Johns Creek to join the effort for energy efficiency, and the first business in Johns Creek to install these stations.

"It was an opportunity we could not pass up," said Mandy Campbell, Director of Sales at Hilton Garden Inn Johns Creek. She became interested in the technology after The Metro Atlanta Chamber's Cleantech Leadership Council alerted her to the opportunity. "We are excited to be part of this new infrastructure and to enable our guests and community members alike to be part of a greener future."

The hotel installed two Blink charging stations under a grant from ECOtality. The project is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy through a federal stimulus grant of $114.8 million, made possible by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

Stephanie Cox, ECOtality's area manager, is still recruiting businesses and others to become host sites for the free charging stations. The stations are initially providing free charging but will eventually adopt a pay-as-you-go model.

"ECOtality's selection of Atlanta recognizes that our region is an ideal deployment community for electric transportation," said Matthew Patterson, Director of Advanced Manufacturing at the Metro Atlanta Chamber. "The EV Project is helping us accelerate the charging infrastructure in this area, which is the most critical element to increasing the EV adoption rate."

"I see the EV Project as a critical means to building an electric vehicle charge infrastructure, and I am committed to making this project a success in this region," said Tim Echols, Chairman of the Georgia Public Service Commission.

The DOE-funded EV Project is the largest deployment of electric vehicle infrastructure in history. To date, the program has signed over 300 level 2 stations and 7 DC Fast Chargers in the Atlanta area. Program participants currently include Simon Properties, Georgia Power, Parmenter Realty Partners, Legacy Property, The Carter Center and multiple Hilton locations.

Local stakeholders such as the Public Service Commission, Georgia Power, Southern Company, City of Atlanta Clean Cities, Center for Transportation and the Environment, City of Atlanta's Department of Sustainability and the Metro Atlanta Chamber are interested in capturing the maximum assets available to this region so that Atlanta can achieve EV market penetration levels beyond those achievable through early adopters of electric vehicles.