Local Charging Stations

Most folks, myself included, have assumed that our country will need to build a new infrastructure if electric cars are going to become viable. The truth is that every home already has electricity. There are many other options, too. Many offices and retail locations have an outlet that can be used to charge an electric car. Every 7-11 has an ice machine and a spare outlet. I actually used that once before I felt comfortable that I'd reach my destination.

The nearest Park & Ride in Hamilton has 5 charging stations and each can charge two cars at once. That's $1.44 per "fill up". Every Nissan dealer offers free charging. The local Smart dealer has two free ones. Washington, DC just installed 80 of them. Individual EV (electric vehicle) owners even offer their own home outlets via the PlugShare network. Here are some maps showing availability.

ChargePoint

SemaCharge

PlugShare (our home is in the upper left corner)

Charging Connections

I thought these charging connections were posted earlier; anyway, here it is now. This is where the gas cap used to be. It's a J1772 connection (from tucsonev.com) that takes 240V AC and there's a retractable 120V plug, too. In the upper left, behind the cap in this view, there is a green light indicating that charging power is available to the car. The 240V charges about 2 ½ times faster than the 120V. On the other hand, the 120V is available everywhere.