Sounds pretty expensive to install the required Fast Charger!

A few glitches for electric cars

Your fancy new green machine is parked in the garage, but how are you going to charge it up?

by Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNNMoney.com senior writer
December 11, 2009: 6:14 AM ET



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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- If you're looking forward to parking a brand-new electric car in your garage soon, be prepared to spend some money getting that garage in shape.
Electric cars like the Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt ideally use special "quick chargers" that have to be hardwired directly into high-power lines.
Installing the chargers is not like putting in a ceiling fan. The equipment has to be fully approved, installed by a competent professional, and in most cases, a city or state inspector will have to approve it all.
You could plug your car into an ordinary wall socket, but not if you're in a hurry. Charging a Nissan Leaf would take about 24 hours, and charging a Volt would take eight. With a quick charger, the job for either would be done in just a few hours. The Volt can also run on gasoline, but what's the point then of having an electric car?
Working out the kinks
Last summer, BMW rolled of an experimental fleet of 450 Mini-e electric Mini Coopers in the Los Angeles and New York City areas.
Unfortunately, by the time the first cars were being delivered, the quick charger equipment had not gotten an official seal of approval from the consumer safety group Underwriters Laboratory, something that's required in many localities.
"It took us a little longer than we anticipated," said Rich Steinberg, BMW's director of electric vehicle operations.
Dr. Lyle Dennis, who lives in suburban New York and commutes to his medical practice in New Jersey, leased one of the Mini-e's and said it took about a month for him to finally get his charger installed and approved. But really it wasn't that inconvenient, he said. He just plugged the car in to a regular outlet for as long as possible, which gave him enough power to get work, where he plugged it in again to fill up for the trip home.
"I was able to drive it pretty much every day," Dennis said.
But those who were affected by the glitch are also the ones most likely to forgive, said Sebastian Blanco, editor of Autobloggreen.com. [more]
http://money.cnn.com/2009/12/11/auto...ex.htm?cnn=yes