Paying for Electric Vehicle Charging Now Possible Using the ParkNOW! Smartphone App in Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia

Mobile NOW!, the provider of the ParkNOW! digital permitting and mobile payment service, joins SemaConnect, a national leader in Electric Vehicle charging stations and sophisticated software for station owners and Electric Vehicle drivers, to revolutionize how Electric Vehicles are recharged.

On Tuesday January 15, 2013, the companies launched a debut and demonstration of electric vehicle charging stations activated by cell phone. The partnership allows EV drivers to quickly scan a QR code with their smart phone and pay-by-cell to charge their electric vehicle without each time having to insert a credit card or call customer support. The service will initially be available at SemaConnect charging stations in Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia, in locations such as Alexandria, Baltimore, Bethesda, Rockville, and others.
“One of the biggest concerns of EV drivers is where to charge up and how to pay for it in a convenient way,” said Mahi Reddy, CEO/Founder of SemaConnect. “Because of this innovative partnership, electric vehicle drivers can charge their cars without the added concern about having a charging pass or having to use a payment station. The ease of paying for EV charging is a benefit that we are excited to offer our customers and this partnership makes that possible.”

Payment features

The new features for the SemaConnect charging stations are simple to use and revolutionize how EV drivers recharge their vehicles.  To use the new features, one simply drives up to a charging station and pays for a charging session with a smartphone using an app or voice response call. With this approach, traditional payment methods like inserting credit cards or calling 1-800 numbers are no longer needed. This reduces costs and makes the process much more reliable when drivers need to recharge.

“We are thrilled to extend our service to the owners of Electric Vehicles.  Having the convenience of paying by cell for EV recharging reduces the cost and makes the process much more reliable for drivers”, said Mobile NOW! President Krista Altok Tassa.  “Just like we are serving over 130,000 customers in Montgomery County with our Pay-by-Cell parking feature, the Pay-by-Cell for recharging simplifies the payment process”, she added.
Current ParkNOW! account holders can use this account to pay for parking and charging their Electric Vehicle without any additional registration.

A more open charging experience

Typically, EV drivers are required to carry a dedicated smart pass to access charging stations made by different manufacturers. This inevitably leads drivers with no choice but to carry a deck of smart passes to charge their EV at various charging stations throughout their city, which is inconvenient. The situation is very similar to the very early years of credit cards before the magnetic stripe streamlined the entire process. What ParkNOW! and SemaConnect have done is eliminate the need for a physical card, a smart pass or a credit card, during a charging session.

For more information about SemaConnect’s ChargePro EV Charging Stations, or to locate charging stations nationwide, please visit www.semaconnect.com.
For more information about ParkNOW! visit www.parknow.us.