AAA Takes on EV ?Range Anxiety?

When the early gasoline powered cars made their way along the horse trails the driver?s must have had anxiety about where they would get more gasoline, after all, there were no gas stations then.? This is exactly what early adaptors of electric vehicles are dealing with and it?s now call ?range anxiety?.

AAA, America?s largest auto club, is coming to the rescue soon, in six U.S. markets, with trucks that can give its members driving an electric vehicle a 10 to 15 minute charge.? This will allow the vehicle to drive three to 15 miles to a charging station where they can further charge their vehicle.

“AAA has been a leader in addressing the needs of motorists for more than a century, and the introduction of mobile electric vehicle charging continues that tradition,” said?Marshall L. Doney, AAA Automotive Vice President. “As the electric vehicle market continues to emerge, AAA is ready to help alleviate some ‘range anxiety’ with the ability to provide a charge to electric vehicles on the roadside that gets drivers back on the go quickly.”

Initial plans call for trucks with mobile electric vehicle charging capabilities to be stationed in six metropolitan areas across the U.S.:? Portland?(Ore.),?Seattle, the San Francisco Bay area,?Los Angeles, Knoxville (Tenn.) and the?Tampa Bay?area. The phased rollout will begin later this summer and continue into the fall.

“While these six areas are part of the initial pilot program, we’ve had tremendous interest from AAA clubs across the country to offer this service to their members, and we anticipate expanding the program to additional areas in the months following initial deployment,” said?John Nielsen, AAA Director of Auto Repair, Buying Services and Consumer Information.

Nielsen explained the pilot program will include AAA Roadside Assistance vehicles equipped with different technologies used to provide mobile charging capabilities to allow the motor club to evaluate multiple technologies in different environments around the country.

The truck is remarkably similar to AAA’s other light services vehicles ? a noted difference to mobile charging vehicles recently unveiled in other countries. Officials demonstrated how the truck is equipped to allow AAA’s technicians to provide traditional AAA Roadside Assistance capabilities to all motorists, such as battery testing, jump-starts and replacements, tire changes, fuel delivery and lockout service.

“AAA’s mobile electric vehicle charging is intended to be a service similar to what AAA has provided to motorists with gas-powered vehicles for nearly a century. When your vehicle runs out of fuel ? whether it is traditional gasoline or electric ‘fuel’ ? AAA can provide you with a limited amount to help you safely reach a location where you can fill up your tank or your battery,” explained Nielsen.

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