A ribbon cutting ceremony for CatCard, LLC at The Outlet Shops of Grand River included, from left, Joey McCain (The Shops of Grand River Maintenance), Terry Denny (The Shops Accounts Manager), Sandra McGuire (Leeds Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director), Chris Strange (The Shops VP of Operations), Leeds Mayor David Miller, Larry Dotson (CatCard, LLC Owner), Steve Karr (Leeds Arts Council, Chamber Board), Jeannie Cole (The Shops Property Manager), William Heartsill (Direct Communications and Drive Electric Alabama), Adam Armstrong (The Shops Operations Manager), Josh Bean (Direct Communications and Drive Electric Alabama), Linda Miller (Guardian Systems, Inc., Chamber Board) and Fire Chief Chuck Parsons. 

A ribbon cutting ceremony for CatCard, LLC at The Outlet Shops of Grand River included, from left, Joey McCain (The Shops of Grand River Maintenance), Terry Denny (The Shops Accounts Manager), Sandra McGuire (Leeds Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director), Chris Strange (The Shops VP of Operations), Leeds Mayor David Miller, Larry Dotson (CatCard, LLC Owner), Steve Karr (Leeds Arts Council, Chamber Board), Jeannie Cole (The Shops Property Manager), William Heartsill (Direct Communications and Drive Electric Alabama), Adam Armstrong (The Shops Operations Manager), Josh Bean (Direct Communications and Drive Electric Alabama), Linda Miller (Guardian Systems, Inc., Chamber Board) and Fire Chief Chuck Parsons. 

LEEDS — The Outlet Shops of Grand River recently announced the arrival of CatCard, LLC, bringing EV charging stations to the mall.

Leeds Area Chamber of Commerce and the City of Leeds welcomed this new business with a ribbon cutting on Friday, Aug. 5.

Grand River offers shopping, dining and entertainment, now the newest addition is the installation of electric charging stations.

“With more and more electric cars on our highways, the need for fast DC charging stations has definitely increased,” said Christine Strange, VP of Retail Operations at The Shops of Grand River. “We saw the need and worked behind the scenes to bring this opportunity to the I-20 corridor here at Leeds.”

Partnering with Larry Dotson of CatCard, LLC, four ChargePoint charging stations were installed this summer.

Dotson is an electrical contractor who owns and operates CatCard.

“I love working with companies like The Outlet Shops of Grand River," Dotson said. “The people are wonderful, and it is a pleasure working with such a great company.”

Once these stations were up and running, charging was available at no charge to the public for more than 30 days.

Dotson saw this as an opportunity to bring customers in to try out the product and make sure they were happy with it, before having to pay for the service.

By the third week of July alone, more than 200 charges were performed at that location with as many as three at a time charging on a regular basis. The norm was one person charging and the redundancy of other stations available so if someone had an issue with any of the stations, customers would have the opportunity to get their charge.

The stations offer fast DC charging for all EVs capable of fast charging at 62.5kW, which charges 25 percent faster than a 50kW station and provides approximately 250 miles of range per hour of charging.

ChargePoint modular architecture allows charging stations to be paired offering drivers up to 125kW for even faster charging speeds.

These types of chargers are used along highways to enable traveling longer distances, but are also used where the driver needs a fast fill up.

Another reason these chargers are so important is because they will charge any type of electric vehicle while other chargers may only charge Tesla automobiles.

“I feel good about this product, especially, since it is the same equipment that is being used at the Mercedes battery plant in Vance down the street from the big plant,” Dotson said. “I am also excited for Grand River who had the foresight, recognized the need, and partnered with CatCard to offer this amenity to their customers as a service with the best equipment in the industry. It is a beautiful, safe place to charge.”

Added Jeannie Cole, The Shops property manager: “The traffic has steadily increased at these new charging stations. We happened to notice this week that, at times, all of the charging stations were full, and people were waiting in line to charge. It is a great service that is now available to our customers and area travelers.”

Besides the charging stations being located along the I-20 corridor, people can shop, dine and enjoy entertainment at Grand River, while charging their electric vehicle.

CatCard EV Charging Stations are located in the southeast corner of The Outlet Shops of Grand River, next to I-20 and close to Rue 21 and Campus Spirit.

The mall is located at 6200 Grand River Boulevard East in Leeds.

How the charging stations work is that customers activate their sessions via the ChargePoint app.

Drivers can also locate the station via the ChargePoint app in addition to Apply Car Play, Google Earth and Plugshare.com.