The iconic Interstate eatery is the perfect place for one of ECOtality’s Blink® DC Fast Chargers.

It sounds like something my old grandpappy would have said: “I’ll believe in them there EVs when I see a charging station at the Cracker Barrel.” But in fact, an iconic Interstate eatery is the perfect place for one of ECOtality’s Blink® DC Fast Chargers, which claim to be the quickest currently available. The Blink dual-port charger sports two interactive touch screens and a 42” color display, and can charge a battery to 80 percent capacity in under 30 minutes—just enough time to eat a plate of biscuits with sawmill gravy and apple butter.

The first of the Blinks is now in service at a Cracker Barrel in Lebanon, Tennessee. 11 more will soon be installed along the “Tennessee Triangle” of Interstate highway that connects Nashville, Knoxville and Chattanooga. And this is just the beginning, y’all. ECOtality is the project manager for The EV Project, a $230 million public-private deal that was partly funded with a DoE grant. Over the next three years, these folks are fixing to install 14,000 charging stations in 16 states.

“By strategically placing Blink charging stations, we are collecting the data needed to build a commercial infrastructure which will untether drivers from their garages,” said Jonathan Read, ECOtality’s CEO. “We identified destination locations like Cracker Barrel as ideal for charging stations—places where people can grab a meal, charge up and go.”

Image: ECOtality