The biggest problem holding back the electric car is simple infrastructure. Currently there are maybe a handful of charging stations that might be near the owner of an electric car. The only current recharging options are at home for most electric car owners.
Decades of gas powered transportation has resulted in a gas station on every corner. And for the most part, each car ran on one of the few types of gasoline offered. Now we have different battery technologies, and connection types for electric cars. Imagine if Ford, Honda, and GM all needed a different type of gasoline, and each refueling method was different.
Electric car technology is emerging and changing rapidly, so to pick a standard now might be foolish, but until that happens, the electric car will never be seen in every garage in America.
This is why cars like the Volt will have an early advantage because they have engineering around this problem by combining the best of electric power with the features of the gas-world infrastructure.
So how does the electric car quickly advance?
Choose an early standard of charging?
Offer many charging options per charging station?
More government subsidies for building infrastructure?
The nations first publicly available quick charge station.
“This quick charge station will allow customers to charge their cars in 20 to 30 minutes. They can stop at a rest stop, get a quick bite to eat and they can charge their vehicle very quickly and get on their way down the road. So this is a big milestone for the electric vehicle, a big tipping point for the industry.”
-Jim Piro, President and CEO Portland General Electric
The charging station is a colloborative effort between Portland General Electric, Nissan, and NEC Corp.
“I think it really opens the doors to confidence in drivers moving outside of their local area, and really opens the market up. Not only for the quick chargers, but electric vehicles and the infrastructure that can support them.”
-Rich Moran, NEC Corp of America
The Nissan Leaf will offer 4 different charging options.
- 110 volt “opportunity” charger. For use when no other charging option is available. A full charge will take about 16 hours using this method
- 220 home charger. This is an at-home installed charger that is meant to be your daily charging solution. Total charge time is about 8 hours using this charger.
- Commercial Fast Charge. This will give an 80% charge in just about 30 minutes.
- The Commercial Fast Charge can also be set to give an extra 30 miles with a super quick 5 minute charge.
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