Xatori is a Silicon Valley software company that plans on creating a network of electric car enthusiasts who are willing to make their household power outlets and home charges available for EV drivers that need to “fill up” their battery or who find themselves out of range of the very few available charging stations.
Yesterday, the company released a free iPhone application dubbed PlugShare that allows drivers and outlet owners detect and offer electricity. EV drivers can insert their destination in order to find out if there are any available shared outlets or public charging stations in the nearby vicinity or along their route.
The people that are willing to share their electricity have to indicate what sort of outlet / charger they have, how to gain access to it and their preferred method of contact. Taking into consideration that most of the outlets are situated in locked garages or otherwise behind closed doors, the software company expects plug sharers will ask EV drivers to schedule a time to charge by calling or sending an SMS.
Xatori believes that a full charge can take even up to 18 hours on a standard 110V household outlet; most drivers will choose to plug in their cars for about an hour or so, in order to extend the driving range by a few miles. They admit that this situation will change as more EVs will be launched and owners will install so-called Level 2 home chargers that will cut the charging times but consume significantly more electricity.
In my opinion, this will never work because how many among us are willing to share our homes to some strangers? Plus, I am not willing to pay more for my electricity bill so that a complete stranger recharges the batteries of his EV.
Source: green.blogs.nytimes
