3M Installs Electric Car Charging Point

by | Feb 11, 2011

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3M has installed an electric vehicle charging station at its company headquarters in Maplewood, Minnesota.

The station was installed by Carbon Day Automotive, the Midwest distributor for Coulomb Technologies, and will accommodate electric and plug-in hybrid cars such as the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt.

It is part of Coulomb’s ChargePoint network, which electric vehicle owners can use online to identify the nearest charging stations during their trip.

3M plans to add a second charging point this spring. Both will serve employees and their guests. The company can control who may access its charging stations to eliminate energy theft and enhance safety.

The stations provide the ability to track and report energy, greenhouse gas and fuel savings. They include utility-grade meters and the ability to communicate with other Smart Grid systems to enable demand response, time-of-use pricing, and other Smart Grid programs provided by 3M’s local utility.

3M says that its energy reduction efforts, improvements to manufacturing processes, product reformulation, and pollution control equipment have reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 77 percent since 1990.

“Installing the latest technology to charge electric vehicles at our corporate headquarters was an easy decision. Innovation is a way of life at 3M, and this is a great way to align our culture with a continued commitment to reduce impact on the environment and underline the connection between 3M values and sustainability,” vice president of environmental, health and safety operations Jean Sweeney said.

In 2010, 3M’s energy savings programs prevented the use of nearly 8 million KWH of electricity and 585,940 Therms of natural gas, the company said.

Recently, people living near a 3M facility that releases more than 5 million gallons of wastewater into the Mississippi River each day are asking for more time to review and comment on a new permit regulating how that wastewater is treated.

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