ChargePoint offer...or scam?

I went to the ChargePoint web site, filled out the form, got the free card in the mail and used it at Walgreens (before they started charging $2).

It does seem odd that they would ask for your address again. But they normally really do send cards for free with no other surprises.

 

I have been using chargepoint for about three months now and am very satisfied. Totally Free. Paid for by Roseville Tel. Is it a scam? Not now, but should they decide to charge $$ they will lose. Unfortunately very few Americans understand that alternative energy sources is about clean air. I am certainly appreciative to Roseville tel for their effort.

 

I got mine with no problems.

 

Mine came quickly and without issue. they may have had a glitch or something that required you to resend.

 

Now, I don't know about where you live, but there was a study done of the Volt in Michigan showing that more pollution was emitted by the electric generation to charge a Volt than by running the Volt on gasoline. The study did show that that result depended on where you live, I just don't remember the list of states where that was true.

 

it more complex than just the state (e.g. time of day, what you pay for). But at a public charger it would be clear they would avertise if doing green. (The only public charger I've used has its own solar and wind, right there on site.) While I can pay extra for green at home, general public chargers must be presumed to be on the grid, so in CO, I'm not using them (though I did get a ChargePoint card.. for those that do go green).

The map is in a NYTimes article and shows the HV MPG needed to be cleaner than EV
Dark colors EV ~= HV 33-40MPG, medium 41-50MPG, light > 50MPG.

Note that all this is based on OLD (2010) data.. and the grid had gotten much cleaner/efficient since then.. with the gCO2/kWh down from 580 at end of 2010 to about 480 in April 2012, see The Greening of the Grid: Nuke+Renewables > NG == Coal, sooner than expected | PriusChat

 

It is as you said drinovation, It depends on the Power Source. To point a finger at the user of the electricity when it is the Power company that is thoughtless , careless, greedy, ignorant and probably corrupt is REDICULOUS.

 

About 20 years ago a coal fired plant was going to be installed at various military bases as demos traction project, these plants would emit almost no pollutants. They were to burn atomized coal dust. More BS theoretical nonsense.

 

I've never seen it mentioned that the electricity used by pure EVs and the miles in
EV mode by PIPs, PHEVs, Volts, etc, are no more polluting than the power from
the grid used to power the refrigerators, air conditioners, stoves, TVs, lights, etc,
in homes across the country. The power comes from the same places.

If folks have a problem with the pollution from power for EVs, etc, they must also
have a problem with the polution caused by their domestic electricity use. They
need to contact their local public utility commissions or lawmakers to fix their
perceived problem, and be ready to shoulder the inevitable resulting rate rise.

I'm not saying that the present level of pollution from electrical generation is
acceptable.

I'm saying that complaining about present or future pollution resulting only
from electricity used by EVs, etc, present or future, is short sighted, self-serving,
and wrong.

 

Well, duh! But if the motivation for someone buying an electric car is reduction of pollution, then it darn well ought to produce less pollution than a gasoline powered car. If it can't then there is no motivation for an electric car.
If and when someone comes up with a gasoline powered refrigerator that produces less pollution than current electric refrigerators - then we would have an alternative, wouldn't we?

 

The study of EV charging emissions (click here) was done by the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Ideally, charging electricity will get less polluting with time, as things improve, while the ICE in the car will remain the same or get a little worse over the life of the car.

 

Concur with all of the last three post, with the exception of "well duh " The main problem with any type of progress is basically corruption , the legislators at all levels are getting nice little bonuses in the form of money, trips, gifts IF, they leave well enough alone or perhaps pass certain laws of interest. It is so much easier to do nothing anyway, isn't it? When 1/2 the world population is either getting sick or dying from bad air THEN, mankind will move. If Tesla had had a free hand, who knows where we would be now, incredibly some people even in this day and age still call him a nut. His nemesis was J.P. Morgan, the icon of American Success Mr devious $$$$ man personified. That's progress!

 

I believe it far more likely that our problems are the result of stupidity than conspiracy.

If only the rest of the world was as smart as I am...