Do Charging Stations Need to Look Good?

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When you look at these electric vehicle charging stations designed by ECOtality, you might be impressed by their sleek aesthetics. Sure, they look nice and minimalistic, but good design often means higher prices. And if there’s one place I don’t care about aesthetics, it’s my garage. A big, bright orange power station will do just fine in my garage next to my EV, thank you. It can be the ugliest thing ever, for all I care, and I wouldn’t want to spend an extra dime for a prettier one.

I’m also not sure why you’d need to separate the hose from the charging station. The company says it’s for cramped garages; the two pieces are right on top of each other in the display.

The public charging stations are similarly minimalistic and look like they’d fit  in on a Chicago street. You’d just have to make sure they actually “blink” or tell drivers they’re there in some manner. Otherwise you could drive your Nissan Leaf right by it while looking for a spot.

The public stations will start rolling out this fall as part of a larger program looking to install 15,000 chargers in 16 U.S. cities.

ECOtality and Frog Design debut eye-catching Blink EV chargers (Engadget)