News Roundup
News Roundup for July 29
CHARGERS FOR SALE
GE home charger
Along with a can of paint and a new lawnmower, add an electric car charger to the list of things you can buy at Lowe’s. Beginning in August, five California branches of the home improvement store will stock GE’s wall-mounted home charging station. In September, the charger will be available to residents of all states through Lowe’s website. The company already has a charging station at its North Carolina home office, and plans to install stations in the parking lots of select stores.
TENNESSEE LEAF
Nissan will manufacture electric motors for the Leaf at a plant in Tennessee. The automaker is making changes at its Decherd facility so that by early 2013 it will be able to make up to 150,000 electric motors a year. The Leaf will be built at a facility in Smyrna, Tenn., about 75 miles north of Decherd.
SUSPECT INJURED
A suspected copper thief had part of a hand blown off when authorities said he touched a 220-volt power line, which exploded. The sheriff’s office in Cherokee County, S.C., said Jonvon Spears, 18, was one of three men who broke into a brickyard July 18, looking to steal metal. A passing deputy saw smoke from the building and noticed the trio climbing through a fence to reach a car. When he stopped the car, the deputy said Spears’ body was “literally smoking.” Spears was flown to a burn center.
I-MOBILE-IZING COPPER THIEVES
Officials in Mobile, Ala., are moving to crack down on copper theft. Under a measure proposed by Mayor Sam Jones, scrap dealers would have to mail checks to anyone selling copper, brass or other metals. Violators would face fines of up to $500 or six months in jail. Jones also wants the city’s ordinance, once adopted, to become the rule throughout Mobile County. “We need to have this tracking requirement county-wide, otherwise copper thieves will just sell outside of Mobile,” the mayor said.
―Based on news and wire reports
Tags: Copper Theft, Crime, Electric Vehicles, News Roundup