PlugShare: The only EV charge station locator you need

If electric cars have an Achilles Heel in the public eye it’s range anxiety.  Not every person interested in owning an EV has the means to purchase a Tesla Model S capable of traveling 265 miles on a single charge.  Many electric cars still struggle to make it much farther than 50 miles before a warning light notifies the driver it’s time to clinch hard in search of a nearby charger.  Anyone who can relate to this common fear needs to checkout PlugShare.

PlugShare didn’t become the world’s most popular app for locating EV charging stations without good reason. PlugShare users are granted free access to a massive worldwide network of Public, High Power and Residential charging stations:

Public Stations

By far the most common category, businesses or governments tend to install a high density of public charge stations in populated areas where EV owners are likely to be predominate.  From parking garages and Walgreens to Torklift Central, you’ll find helpful charger details such as cost per kilowatt-hour, hours of operation, port connection types, number of open chargers and reviews from PlugShare users. 

High Power / DC Fast Charge or SuperCharger Stations

For EV owners with high-speed charging capability these stations can provide a full charge in 40minutes or less. 

Residential Chargers

PlugShare members are encouraged to offer their home charging stations up for use by the EV community.  It’s not uncommon to see instructions posted by a user such as ‘Joyce K.’ to “Park in the driveway on the right side,” if you’d like to use her personal charger. 

Beware:  This category also features charging locations posted by PlugShare users that may or may not be appropriate.  Locations such as maintenance outlets in a grocery store parking lot or dimly lit alley should be used with discretion if at all. 

PlugShare also implements their vast network of charger locations in a Trip Planner feature.  Users log in their desired start-point and destination as they would on Map Quest or Google Maps, but are also prompted to enter the available range of their EV.  PlugShare then provides a map of all available chargers along a suggested route that ensures you’ll never run out of juice between Point A and Point B.

With a little planning and an Internet connection PlugShare is an effective cure for common range anxiety.  As a featured business on their network we’ve yet to catch anyone bumming a charge off our outdoor wall outlets at Torklift Central.  Then again we do happen to be clearly listed as a Public Station.