It appears that the electric car is our future. But the nation’s infrastructure must be upgraded to take on the job of charging the millions of cars we hope will be on the road in the not too distant future.
The San Francisco area is preparing for such a future. Better Places, a Palo Alto-based company, plans to establish a network of electric-vehicle charging stations that will blanket the Bay Area by 2012.
Gavin Newsom, the mayor of San Francisco, said that his city will use tax breaks to support sales of electric vehicles and to encourage homes and businesses to create charging stations. And the mayors of San Jose and Oakland have said that they will cooperate in creating regulations for electric vehicles that will apply to cities and counties throughout the region.
San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland plan to make electrical outlets for low-voltage vehicles as well as outlets for high voltage vehicles available in public buildings or city parking lots as early as next year.
Better Place has experience creating charging networks. It has done so in Israel, Denmark and Australia.