charging

Wireless charging is nothing new--but it could be the next widely-used technology in the world of electric cars. That's according to Pike Research, which suggests wireless charging sales will surpass 280,000 by 2020. The group cites the partnerships of several electric vehicle manufacturers with...

Do you build electric cars first, and worry about the chargers later? Or do you build a network up-front, and hope the buyers follow? Public charging networks are necessary to give buyers confidence that they can charge their cars anywhere. But often, they're not used that much, owners typically...

Only a month after Better Place founder Shai Agassi was replaced as CEO of the company, current CEO Moshe Kaplinsky has also departed the troubled firm. Better Place, whose corporate model allows electric car owners in Israel, Denmark and Australia to have their car's entire battery swapped at...

Traveling coast-to-coast isn't a trip best suited to the average electric car, but it's become a whole lot easier in Canada. A free, 240V charging network now lines the Trans-Canada highway, allowing EV drivers to drive across the entire country--and to demonstrate, two drivers are doing just that...

Europe may have its own single currency and be subject to many of the same laws, but for electric car owners the business of charging isn't as simple. European Union countries still have no standardized charging format, and auto industry specialists consider it the main hurdle to EV adoption in...

The topic of public charging stations for electric cars isn't necessarily well understood. The release of Electric Vehicle Charging Equipment, a report by Pike Research on deployment of charging infrastructure, led us to wonder: When will the number of public charging stations for electric cars in...

When General Motors launched the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid back in 2010, it chose to emphasize how it differed from electric cars by highlighting how its gasoline engine meant folks didn’t suffer from range anxiety. Now, almost two years after the Volt launched, charging data by a...

Electric car charging station provider ECOtality has had a lawsuit against the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) thrown out by a California appeals judge. ECOtality had wanted to stop the Commission funding a charging network set up by eVgo, a subsidiary of energy company NRG. The $102.5...

For eco-minded commuters with electric cars, getting a place to charge their electric car while at work can effectively double their car’s daily range. Getting your employer to install a charging station can be far from easy, even if the company you work for is keen to support electric cars...

Ask owners to give you a list of fears associated with their electric cars, and a few charging concerns are bound to be on the list. Usually, they include not finding somewhere to charge, or that a charging station isn’t accessible for some reason. Now a new one can be added to the list: not...

Owners of plug-in vehicles like the Nissan Leaf, Chevrolet Volt, and even the new Tesla Model S may be paying too much when they charge their car. Why? Because they haven’t signed up with the right utility plan. According to a recent survey from the California Center for Sustainable Energy...

Thanks to an increasing number of public charging stations, finding a place to recharge your electric car or plug-in hybrid is easier than ever before. With recharging of a fully empty car like a 2012 Nissan Leaf taking up to 8 hours at a public level 2 charging station however, how should access...

Last October, at the official launch of the 2012 Tesla Model S, we told you about Tesla’s plans to build a network of “Superchargers”: fast-charging stations that could add up to 150 miles of range to a Model S in 30 minutes. Yesterday, Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] launched its...

It all began with a late-night tweet two weeks ago by Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk. In it, he announced that Tesla would unveil its much-discussed Supercharger network of dedicated quick-charging stations--usable only by 2012 Tesla Model S drivers--on September 24. Well, today's the day. And this...

Finding an electric-car charging station gets easier every day. More than 10,000 public and private electric-car charging stations have now been installed in the U.S., or one for roughly every five plug-in cars on the road today. But not every single one of those stations is going to stay with us...

Chademo-specification DC quick chargers make it possible for owners of electric cars like the Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi i to travel well beyond the range of a single charge in a day without waiting for hours every time their car needs charging. But while quick DC charging stations can charge the...

Ask most Americans to name the cities with the most public charging stations for electric cars per head of population, and they’ll likely mention Los Angeles and perhaps San Francisco. According to PlugShare (via good.is), however, Portland, Oregon and Dallas, Texas top the list. PlugShare...

If you live in an apartment or condo, you’ll know that gaining permission to charge an electric car in your shared parking lot isn’t always that easy. Often, miscommunication, legal worries and plain old ignorance come into play, preventing plug-in owners from charging their car, but...

As all-electric and plug-in hybrid cars become more popular, we’ve noticed an increase in the number of public charging stations being installed in grocery store lots, shopping malls and corporate parking garages. Locations like these are undoubtedly the most common places you’ll find a...

If you’re not an electric car driver, the chances are that how and when electric cars recharge is one of the lesser mysteries of the universe. After all, if every electric car in town charged at the same time, wouldn’t it bring down the electrical grid? The answer, at least for now, is...