Slowly, but Surely Electric Vehicles Hit the Roads

Last fall I saw three electric cars in one week. It turned out to be quite the cluster (and aberration), because it had been nearly a year until I saw the next one. The other day while leaving Canopy Aiport Parking at Denver International Airport, there was a Chevy Volt plugged into one of the “Juice Bars” located in the indoor parking/valet section of the complex. (See the picture for this post. My apologies for the glare). Although it is not a true electric car, the Volt does use an electric motor as its primary source of propulsion. Dubbed Motor Trend’s Car of the Year, the Volt may well be the most visible foray into the electrification of cars.

Seeing a Volt on the road, (well, plugged in at least) is a start. Until the infrastructure is in place, electrification of vehicles will be slow to gain wider acceptance.

On a related note, Canopy has dropped its rates to $8/day, which is in line with USA Airport Parking across the street and one dollar more than the economy lots at DIA which recently raised their rates. Since the first visit, they have added charging stations. There are “Juice Bars” both in the covered parking ($14/day) and the indoor valet ($18/day). However, it is not clear whether priority is given to plug-ins (hybrid and pure electric cars) for the general covered parking. On past occasions it appears that non-electric vehicles have been parked in the space.

[Author's image]