Electric Car Infrastructure

So far, Israel and Denmark are the only two major countries that have announced their participation in Project Better Place, an ambitious project involving electric car recharging stations and infrastructure paired with Nissan electric cars.

The cost-per-mile of electric cars is projected to be around 2 cents per mile, much lower than traditional internal-combustion transportation. The future of transport is 100% electric, and Denmark and Israel know it, and are planning accordingly.

Another nation that is preparing for the changeover is Japan. They’re building a national charging infrastructure using Japan Electric Power’s tech that allows a 40km charge in just 5 minutes, and a 60km charge in just 10.

In the United States, there is talk from Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama regarding more public spending on alternative energy generation, but there is little talk regarding electric cars. Most of the changeover talk in the US is coming from venture-backed startups like V2Green, who have an economic incentive to drum-up support. There hasn’t been enough positive talk coming from politicians.

In Seattle, Puget Sound Energy has launched a two-year pilot program to better understand how plug-in vehicles will interact with the electricity grid. They don’t foresee any problems, especially if electric cars are programmed to charge during off-peak hours, when prices are low and excess electric capacity is available.

The future is clear. Will we be ready?

General Motors recharges on future of electric car – Seattle Times

Japan building national charging station network for future EVs – Motor Authority