Coulomb In Your Garage

SAN FRANCISCO -- Coulomb Technologies plans to launch a residential electric car charging device next year that is likely to cost between $500 and $1,000, said Praveen Mandal, president of Coulomb, at Greentech Media's The Networked Grid conference in San Francisco Wednesday.

The Campbell, Calif.-based company currently sells charging equipment to businesses and utilities in North American and Europe and runs a subscription service for users to access these charging spots.

Getting into the home charging market is a logical next step, particularly given that major automakers such General Motors, Toyota and Nissan plan to start selling plug-in hybrid or all-electric cars in 2010.

Consumers could end up buying the chargers from car dealerships or even utilities, he added. The company hasn't finalized all the sales channels for the product launch, Mandal said.

Back in September, Coulomb said it had snagged a deal to sell its charging equipment at the smart USA dealers, which will be selling Daimler's smart fortwo electric cars.

Coulomb plans to sell the device somewhere between $500 and $1,000, depending on the options consumers choose, Mandal said. The device the company sells in the commercial market is around $2,500. 

Some of the options would allow users to decide how they want to schedule charging and check on electricity rates. A more sophisticated service would allow cars (with the proper equipment/software) to communicate with the charging device, for example. 

Consumers would be able to schedule charging over the Internet and get a text message if charging didn't start as planned, Mandal said. The device also could be connected to Coulomb's service center, which would be able to detect equipment failure and send a technician to fix it. 

You will need an electrician to install the device at home.