Green Technology : Electric vehicle charging gets a jolt with a $47.5M investment

As electric vehicles gain popularity in the automobile market, EV charging station manufacturer Coulomb Technologies has raised $47.5 million in fourth-round funding.

With Tesla, Nissan, Chevy, and Toyota pushing out economy to down-right luxury electric cars, more people are shunning gasoline in favor of electric models. For EVs to be practical and more widely adopted, there needs to be a strong infrastructure of charging stations for people to fill up their electric tanks. Coulomb Technologies made its way in the green tech market by providing outdoor charging stations for EV owners on the go.

Coulomb Technologies boasts 6,000 charging stations in 14 countries, in North America, Europe, and Australia. Every station is connected to a network called ChargePoint, helping electric car drivers find them on mobile apps and the ChargePoint website. Each station is also capable of sending text message alerts to a driver to tell them when their car is juiced up.

The company has partnered with Nissan to be the official charging stations for it Leaf electric cars. Coulomb Technologies has also worked with BMW, Ford, GM, and Fisker Automotive to create charging station support for their electric offers.

Braemar Energy Ventures and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers led the funding round, joined by Toyota Tsusho Corporation and existing investor Rho Ventures. Voyager Capital, Siemens Venture Capital GmbH, Harbor Pacific Capital Partners, and Hartford Ventures also participated.

Better Place is one of Coulomb Technologies biggest competitors these days, because it offers an alternative chargingapproach for EV drivers. Better Place lets you swap your depleted battery for a fully charged one, a process that takes significantly less time than completely recharging a battery. EvoCharge and OpConnect also provide commercial EV charging stations.

“These funds enable us to provide cloud-based solutions to cities, retailers, employers, parking operators and property managers that will drive the adoption of clean transportation,” said Pat Romano, chief executive officer of Coulomb Technologies in a statement.

Coulomb Technologies is based in Campbell, Calif., in Silicon Valley. The company has raised a total of $80.3 million, including this new round.

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GreenTechnology : Driven to make the world a bit greener

The Chevy Volt is unique among electric cars because it runs on two sources of energy. You have an electric source – a battery – that allows you to drive gas-free for an EPA-estimated 35 miles. And there’s also an onboard gas generator that produces electricity so you can go farther. So if you want to drive using only electricity, you can. If you want to drive using electricity and gas, you can do that, too. Feeling all charged up? Check out what this current Chevy Volt driver has to say about his unique driving lifestyle:

Adam Meltzer’s life is anything but predictable. With three jobs and plenty of running around to do come the weekend, he says he relies on his Volt to keep him moving and motivated. “In Los Angeles you spend a lot of time in your car. If your car is not comfortable, it’s like working in an uncomfortable desk chair with a bad computer screen,” he says. Luckily, he loves his ride. “Before this car I didn’t even like driving. It was something I had to do.”

Meltzer says his affinity for the Volt has everything to do with how the car appeals to his environmentally conscious side. “The Volt for me has been an opportunity to step into a luxury car, not at a luxury price, and at the same time contribute to the ongoing conversation about how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks in the world.” In fact, Meltzer feels like he is making a statement every time he gets behind the wheel. “When I get in front of large SUVs on the road and they see the back of my car, maybe they’ll think for a minute: ‘Why am driving this out-of-date gas guzzler?’ he says.

The Volt has definitely made the term “gas guzzler” a thing of the past for Meltzer. “I get about 175 mpg, and drive mostly electric,” he says. His favorite place to charge up is at the Electric Lodge Arts and Environment Center in Venice. “It’s 20 miles from my house. I top off my battery, and I can pretty much get anywhere else in Los Angeles,” he says. Overall, Meltzer highly recommends the Volt to people every chance he gets. “It’s modern, sleek, technologically sophisticated, and most importantly, doesn’t pollute the air [when in electric mode].”

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