McDonald's to Offer Electric Vehicle Charging

[Marcus Yam]

Your electric car will be lovin' it.

McDonald's to Offer Electric Vehicle Charging : Read more

 

[apmyhr]

Are they going to charge money for people who use it?

 

[dman3k]

Do they expect people to spend hours at McDonald's?

 

[IzzyCraft]

[citation][nom]dman3k[/nom]Do they expect people to spend hours at McDonald's?[/citation]
Well when you have several heart conditions you tend to move slow.

 

[daft]

well, if they use the same battery that will be in the lightning gt, a few minutes could lead to 30-50% charge. not bad in my book

 

[saljr]

I'm surprise that Wal-Mart haven't thought of this? Because people do spend at least an hour shopping.

 

[FUtomNOreg]

[citation][nom]IzzyCraft[/nom]Well when you have several heart conditions you tend to move slow.Apparently, they have found an alternate use for the defibrillator. [/citation]
Apparently, they have found an alternate use for the defibrillator.

 

[nitto555rchallenger]

Mc Donald's Good for the environment, Bad for your health.

 

[Guest]

Too bad the electricity for it probably isn't from a green source, when they do that I'll be impressed otherwise it's just McDonalds trying to make themselves look better

 

[Guest]

I would imagine that the electricity would get to be a tad expensive for what is essentially the lowest priced fast food chain. Cary is an uber-wealthy, ritzy city, though, I'm sure they'll have a very high per-capita rate of electric car ownership, that's where all the big pharma executives have their 10 million dollar houses.

 

[Guest]

Despite the flack it's getting, this is the first major steps forward to making an electric car a feasible option. One of the biggest disadvantages of an all electric car is the lack of remote recharging stations. It's only good for commuting - not traveling. Knowing that McDonald's (that are everywhere) will supply a recharging method, you can now take a vacation most anywhere within the US, find a motel/hotel close to a McDonalds, let it charge up...

It's a step forward, even if it's not the complete solution.

 

[aspireonelover]

I hoped people made better decision instead of spending hours @ mcdonalds everyday. Why not just invent universal wireless-power charged vehicles? isn't that a bit faster and every car on the road won't run out of electric?

 

[Guest]

where do you think this electricity comes from? burning coal? nuclear? ... you might as well just buy a prius, oh wait those do more harm in their manufacturing process than the good they do for their 100,000 mile lifetime... the closest answer is hydrogen in my opinion. this battery stuff is not a truly feasible option.

 

[okibrian]

Can I get that with a combo deal?

 

[Wayoffbase]

[citation][nom]aspireonelover[/nom]I hoped people made better decision instead of spending hours @ mcdonalds everyday. Why not just invent universal wireless-power charged vehicles? isn't that a bit faster and every car on the road won't run out of electric?[/citation]
... then there would be lightning bolts shooting through the air at every car on the road. I don't think its the battery manufacturers stopping this one, I think thats a bit less than feasible.

 

[aspireonelover]

[citation][nom]Wayoffbase[/nom]... then there would be lightning bolts shooting through the air at every car on the road. I don't think its the battery manufacturers stopping this one, I think thats a bit less than feasible.[/citation]
but the lightning bolts would be invisible, wouldn't it?

 

[cablechewer]

I find it interesting that they chose Cary, NC for this pilot project. I am not aware of any programs that encourage electric cars in NC nor am I aware of large enough numbers of electric cars in the state. I know there are several states that offer incentives but I am not aware of any in NC (beyond the Federal tax credit that Tesla is using to get the Model S below $50k.

You do have to start somewhere with charging stations. Even if you only stay 20 minutes you can still get a significant charge. 20 minutes is an easy to hit timeframe. You plug in, walk in, wash your hands, line up, place your order, wait for the order, sit down to eat and then walk back out to the car.

For those who are saying you will have to stay for hours you are thinking of the max charge time. Yes if you pull into this restaurant with little or no charge left and try to get back to a full charge you will need a lot more time. However if you pull in with half a charge a 20-30 minute stop will be enough to bring you up to at least 60% (consider that the Roadster on a 240V/70A charging circuit should need 3.5 hours to go from 0-100%).

If the charging stations become commonplace then everywhere you stop you'll be able to get yourself at least a 10 minute charge. Suddenly electric vehicles with "short" ranges could take you through a full day of errands around town. Each of the charging stations would give you that extra little boost to keep the car going all day and then you simply top it up at night.

As for the source of the power - yes green sources are better, but even a dirty coal plant and transmission losses offer better efficiency and lower pollution than using thousands of gasoline powered engines as small generators.

 

[ssddx]

+1

At least MDs is putting one step forward. This is the exact response needed to fuel interest in placing recharge stations. After all: monkey see, monkey do.

Sure, hydrogen cars are better for the environment. However, I'd rather not have an accident in one! Also: electricity doesnt have to come from "dirty" coal plants and nuclear facilities. It can also come from wind farms, tidal stations and solar generation plants. Also keep in mind that coal based stations, although old, are having retrofits to reduce their emmissions by 95%+/-.

 

[sublifer]

the nature of the short-term stays for patrons of McDonald's makes the little bit of charging somewhat pointless at fast food restaurants

Thats exactly why they're doing this, they're going to have MORE customers coming, if only mainly to recharge, and they're going to be staying there longer (so they can buy desserts or another round of burgers) I wonder how much it will cost to charge at mcd's...?

 

[Guest]

And the best part of charging your electric car at McDonald's will be the complementary ethanol milkshake!