Part-funded by the United States Department of Energy, residents owning a Nissan LEAF or Chevrolet Volt can claim a free Blink wall-mounted home-charging unit and $400 credit when they join the scheme. To date, this has collected over 17 million miles of usage data from electric vehicle drivers.

The latest expansion is a result of partnerships with local utility companies ComEd (in Chicago), Georgia Power (in Atlanta) and PECO (in Philadelphia).

‘By signing up for a free charger, EV owners can take part in this massive research project that can help reduce our country’s dependence on foreign oil,’ said said Don Karner, Chief Innovation Officer of ECOtality, Inc. ‘ With the expansion of this new market, The EV project is now in nine states and 21 major metropolitan areas throughout the country.’