EOS Linx Expanding Solar-Powered Charging in Texas
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EOS Linx, an EV charging company known for its solar-assisted EV charging stations, is about to majorly expand at Texas convenience stores by partnering with the Lone Star Business Association Cooperative (LSBAC), a network of gas/convenience stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and north-central Texas.
“Our universal EOS Charge Stations include multiple EV charging sockets and robust data analytics tools that provide stores what they need to succeed,” says EOS Linx’s CEO Blake Snider. “We also are helping reduce range anxiety and expand charging options for residents and visitors alike across Texas.”
The partnership will result in charging stations at up to 100 LSBAC member stores. Like the TVs that plague fuel pumps today sharing news and short entertainment programming, Linx stations have a 75″ TV screen that advertises the store it’s located at, among other things. With convenience stores, the idea seems to be getting charging customers to go into the store and buy things while the car charges up.
“EOS Charge Stations provide many benefits in one unique solution. We’re talking about marketing and media combined with EV charging stations that will drive incremental traffic and revenue for stores, and that’s a winning combination for our members,” says Ziad Baddour, LSBAC Vice President.
Another big advantage for a business is that getting the station put in costs them nothing up front. The installation of solar power, storage, the charging station itself, and the advertising screen is all covered by EOS. They get their money back from the installation from the sale of advertising on the display, which could target the audience with convenience store items in LSBAC stores, for example.
Looking at the company’s website, the installation appears to be fairly simple. There’s a stand that bolts up behind the parking spaces. The stand holds up the EOS Charge sign, the outdoor television, and the charging stations. On top of the stand, there are arms that hold up what appears to be 8 solar panels, which means it likely generates around 2 kW of power. Where the storage comes in is anybody’s guess, but it could be positioned behind the EOS sign.
This all means that solar power will be used for charging, but it won’t be an off-grid setup with only around 2 kilowatts of solar. So, the customer will get a mix of solar power and grid power depending on when they charge. It could be mostly solar (from storage) if the station is sparsely used, or it could be mostly grid power if it’s heavily used. If not used at all, we can probably assume that EOS sells its power back to the grid once any batteries are full.
What we don’t know is whether the company will stick with Level 2 charging (depicted in all photos I’ve seen) or if they’ll go for DC fast charging. What they do on that is going to make a big difference in how useful their charging services are for EV drivers, and by extension how useful their advertising services will be.
Featured image by EOS Charge.
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