This week’s SmartCar roundup features: an app to help electric car drivers find the best charging station, roads that charges EVs, and a smart driver that is able to save gas on any vehicle he drives.

Plug Away

Recargo, the company that specializes in social driving tools and consumer and industry intelligence to support the adoption and growth of plug-in mobility, announced PlugScore.  PlugScore is part of PlugShare, Recargo’s mapping service that tells electric vehicle motorists where the nearest charging stations are.

PlugScore will help make trip planning easier and improve electric vehicle drivers’ plug-in experience by providing users with comprehensive charging information before they pull up to charge their vehicle.  Now, motorist can learn how others have rated the charging station as well as leave your own rating for the benefit of others.

“PlugScore takes the guess-work out of picking a charging station and works much like a restaurant rating system,” said Brian Kariger, CEO of Recargo Inc. “Now, drivers have the critical information necessary to choose the right charging station. PlugScore ratings provide a quick summary of driver reviews and other factors that make up the overall charging experience in a single number.”

You can download the PlugShare app free for iOS and Android.

Charging Roads

Though there are now a lot of electric vehicles in the market, owning one may still be quite troublesome especially when charging stations aren’t easily accessible where you live.  But what if roads help you charge as your cruise along?

In South Korea, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) developed a charging mat that works similarly to wireless chargers used by some mobile devices.  The charging road is 7.5 miles long and cost $4 million to build and used Gumi busses recently commissioned.  Though KAIST says that only 5-15 percent of existing roads need to be reconstructed to turn them into charging lanes, the cost is quite high.  The charging roads need not be long, it can placed in bus stops so the online electric vehicles (OLEVs) can juice up while waiting for passengers to get on or off.

The Need For Smarter Drivers

With gas prices soaring, car manufacturers are finding ways to make fuel-efficient cars more affordable for consumers.  But let’s face it, it’s not really that easy, or affordable to buy a new car right?  The best way to save up on gas money is to not use your car…but that’s just insane.  So how do you save on gas without purchasing a fuel-efficient car?  Become a smart driver.

Becoming a smart driver is easier said than done as it entails breaking some bad habits and learning new tricks that would help you save some gas. Wayne Gerdes, dubbed as the most fuel-efficient driver (with records to prove it,) has numerous tips on becoming a smarter and more fuel-efficient driver.  You don’t need to buy a new car, all you need are proper skills and the patience to learn them and stick with it.

Hypermiling is step one. Hypermiling is a set of driving techniques you can learn to become a more fuel efficient driver which includes: easing on the brakes or more likely not use the breaks by allowing the car to roll slowly until the traffic light turns green again, ease up on the accelerator as it will consume gas faster, do not leave car on idle for more than a minute as it burns more gas, removing unnecessary loads as lighter vehicles travel faster without having to step so much on the accelerator, and other tips that if you take the time to master you’ll become a more fuel-efficient and smarter driver.