Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Coming to Rockville

Environmentally conscious drivers looking to charge up their vehicles will soon have two new options in Rockville.

announced Monday that it will partner with Miami, Fla.-based Car Charging Group Inc. to offer electric vehicle charging stations at two of the management company’s Rockville shopping centers: Congressional Plaza and Rockville Town Square.

"Besides the obvious environmental benefits, a big advantage of electric cars will be the ability to conveniently charge your vehicle when you're already stopped somewhere on your daily routine," Michael D. Farkas, chief executive officer of Car Charging Group, said in a news release. "Because of its prime locations across the nation, Federal Realty's unique retail and mixed use destinations serve as popular gathering places within their communities, making them perfect locations to top off your EV battery while you shop or dine."

The charging stations at Town Square were one of after signing a lease for the retail district’s three parking garages.

The property management company will also offer car charging at Bethesda Row, and at Pentagon Row and the Village at Shirlington in Arlington, Va., and at a mixed-use center in San Jose, Calif., the release said.

"The partnership with Car Charging Group to install EV charging stations is the next step in the continual greening of our operations, which already includes the creation of biofuels through recycled oil and grease waste from restaurants at our Bethesda Row mixed-use development, LEED certifications at many of our recent developments as well as numerous energy efficiencies and minimized usage of natural resource at a number of properties throughout the portfolio,” Mike Kelleher, director of asset management of Federal Realty, said in the release.

Users will have access to Level II, 240-volt, EV charging stations, manufactured by Coulomb Technologies and to the ChargePoint Network, a global online network that connects electric vehicle users to unoccupied charging stations.

Through ChargePoint’s cloud-based network, Car Charging Group will provide flexible payment options and systems for reservations and will track customer usage patterns, energy use, costs and revenues.

ChargePoint offers mobile apps for iPhone, BlackBerry and Android, mapping services and driver support services.