Sierra Nevada Installs Electric Car Chargers at its Brewery in Chico, California

If you know me, you've probably seen me drinking Sierra Nevada. I do it not just because of its full flavor and "drinkability."

America’s oldest micro brewery is also one of the greenest and it doesn’t hurt that they produce some killer beer. In February Matthew wrote about Sierra Nevada and E-Fuel Corp partnering to make ethanol from discarded beer yeast. And a few years before that the brewery went almost entirely off the grid as a result of its fuel cell technology and solar panels. Now the company is taking it to the next level by becoming the first corporate customer of ChargePoint networked charging stations.

Sierra Nevada has installed ChargePoint™ Networked Charging Stations at its Chico, Calif. Brewery. The two charging stations are available for patrons and employees of the brewery with electric or hybrid vehicles. Though this is the first Chargepoint to be installed at a corporation, these handy charging stations are already popping up all over the San Francisco area. Three charging stations were installed in February across the street from City Hall in San Francisco. Its producer, Coulomb Technologies is building a network of 40 charging stations along California highways in 2009.

Electric cars may not be commercially available yet in the US, and aren’t expected to be widely available much before 2012, but when they are California will be ready. Consumers simply subscribe to the ChargePoint Network and receive a ChargePoint Smart Card that allows them to charge their car at any ChargePoint station worldwide.