McDonald's to EV Drivers: Do You Want Fries With that Power?

On July 14, electric vehicle owners will be able to charge up on a Big Mac while their electric vehicle charges in the parking lot.

A new McDonald's in Cary, North Carolina, will be the first of its kind, testing a pilot program with NovaCharge and Coulomb Technologies. The program may pave the way for electric charging stations in close proximity to where people drive and spend their leisure time.

The entire McDonald's will be "eco-friendly" and built from environmentally friendly materials.

The concept is designed to demonstrate the benefits of parking lot charging not only for electric car drivers, but also for businesses: the hookup adds an incentive for people to linger at McDonald's longer and spend more.

Currently, the one missing link in the electric car market is the high cost of transporting electricity, but a larger infrastructure--similar to the existing model for gas stations--would make transportation cheaper and EV use more common.

The system uses a secure terminal called ChargePort, where customers can sign up for a paid subscription plan. The back-end network allows NovaCharge and Coulomb to monitor usage. A Web portal allows customers to view a map with all nearby ChargePort stations.

[via Engadget and NovaCharge]