For more than a century, Sears has built its brand recognition on its appliances and tools. Now the iconic retailer is entering the green car business in a joint arrangement with Evatran to offer consumers reliable installation of Plugless Power electric vehicle charging systems.
Plugless power systems recharge electric vehicles (EVs) as quickly as traditional corded options and require the same electrical installation inside a customer's home.
Product offerings will initially focus on Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf models but will quickly expand to include additional electric vehicles. Installation will be offered with the sale of each Plugless Power system and priced based on the customer's home and current electrical service. Sears will also offer commercial installation for electric vehicle fleet owners and managers.
Benefits offered to Plugless Power customers through the agreement include:
Simplified Purchasing: Evatran will offer Plugless Power systems with optional basic or standard home installation wrapped into the purchase price of the equipment; this full price may be included in the vehicle purchase or lease at the time of sale.
Pre-Installation Site Visits: Site visits, as necessary to quote non-standard and commercial installations, will be completed in advance of installations.
Timely Installation: Sears will receive automatic notification of a customer's installation request; Sears will contact the customer within one business day of equipment purchase to schedule home installation.
Convenient Additional Services: Sears will offer ongoing service and maintenance to Plugless Power owners. A specific geographic rollout plan will be announced next year with final installation pricing for basic and standard home installations.
Plugless Power, developed by Evatran, is the first electric vehicle (EV) charging system on the market to offer customers a simple way to charge their EVs with the ease of hands-free technology.
Utilizing inductive power transfer, which has been used in electrical transformers for more than 100 years, Plugless Power streamlines the charging of electric vehicles by eliminating the cord and the plug.
In addition to aftermarket distribution, Evatran is currently working with automotive manufacturers to integrate the Plugless Power technology into mass-market EVs and signed a Joint Development Agreement with Yazaki North America, a major Tier 1 automotive supplier in May 2011 .
Article Last Updated: December 22, 2011.
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A sports, travel and business journalist for more than 45 years, James has written the new car review column The Weekly Driver since 2004.
In addition to founding this site in 2004, James writes a Sunday automotive column for The San Jose Mercury and East Bay Times in Walnut Creek, Calif., and monthly auto review and wellness columns for Gulfshore Business, a magazine in Southwest Florida.
An author and contributor to many newspapers, magazines and online publications, co-hosted The Weekly Driver Podcast from 2017 to 2024.
This will be a great step forward for the EV industry.