Electric car network coming to Arizona

Alternative energy company Ecotality said on Friday that it will supply charging stations in Arizona as part of the planned roll-out of plug-in electric cars from Nissan next year.

Nissan North America has committed to making its electric vehicles available to municipal or private organizations in the Tucson, Ariz., area, Ecotality said. Nissan's all-electric sedan is scheduled to be available in certain areas of the U.S. next year.

(Credit: Ecotality)

Ecotality said it will plan the installation of charging stations in the area and work with local politicians to establish policies to promote plug-in electric cars.

There are a number of electric sedans planned for market introduction in the next two years. But automakers say that establishing a charging infrastructure in public places is critical for their acceptance with consumers.

Auto companies like General Motors and Nissan are working with different municipalities to find ways to pay for public charging stations and to educate consumers on the plug-in electric technology.

Ecotality now supplies charging stations designed to rapidly replenish batteries for fleet vehicles like forklifts and ground-support vehicles at airports.

[gary85739]

Hope they build recharging stations at least every 50miles.

At present all electric vehicles don't go much farther than that...

Surely battery tech will make these vehicles go for 200 miles in the future, but for now, most of them have a range of 50miles which makes daily charging just to go to work from the suburbs to the city mandatory!

[redwall_hp]

Have you ever heard of the Tesla Roadster? It's mileage is waaay over 50.

Educate yourself: http://www.teslamotors.com/

[larryn46]

Are the Nissan charging stations going to be compatible with the existing charging stations? Are there going to be separate GM charging stations? Is this VHS and Beta or Bue-ray and HD-DVD fiasco all over again?

[mebwe]

If these cars can be charged in a residential garage, presumably there are only two types of electrical outlets that would work. So wouldn't charging stations have both types of electricity available?
Or are we talking about replacing a discharged battery with a newly charged battery, in which case all the autos better have the same type of battery.

[Vuki777]

The chargers will be widely compatible. Here is a quote from ECOtality's press release: "While the implementation of public charge infrastructure is planned to support the launch of Nissan?s zero-emission vehicle, public charging stations in the Tucson region will meet all EV charge system standards (including the SAE J1772 Electric Vehicle Conductive Charge Coupler Specifications) to be universally compatible with new grid-connected vehicles of other major automakers."

[Mergatroid Mania]

Good for them!

Now, if they could get other states to all follow along! It's exciting to see these things happening, I hope it doesn't turn out to be another fiasco like the EV1.
I guess we should be able to tell if the car companies refuse to sell the vehicles and will only lease them again. That would be a pretty big warning sign.

[VisionAforethought]

Better Place (betterplace.com) have a great system that's already being installed in Israel and Australia.

[freemarket--2008]

I believe in Hawaii also.

[loose_screw]

Ugh, why Tucson of all places? Phoenix, LA, or SF would have been far better choices.

[Vuki777]

I've been following Ecotality for a few years now. They have some very interesting technologies including Fast-Chargers that can charge car-sized batteries in about 10 minutes. I don't know if they will use this technology in Arizona but it potentially resolves a lot of issues involved with the EV ecosystem.

[cancercomesfromoil]

Did you see this story? If Tuscon can send folks to Washington, they can get in on the upside of this:

"?The War at DOE- Part 1:

There is a war underway at DOE. For decades, DOE has been controlled by the Oil and Coal lobbies and insiders, enter the Obama administration. Programs and process which had previously been staged to make sure that alternative energy only achieves a 7% penetration, and no more, are in upheaval. The most powerful men in Washington have been entrenched in DOE but internal investigations and clear sky policies have shaken their empire to the very foundation.

The world economy has been based around the trading of oil and coal since the Vikings first transacted exchanges for these products. Some of the deadliest wars, diseases and intolerance has been caused by the policies around who has access to these materials. These materials affect trillions of dollars of economic movement and certain people and companies will do anything to maintain control of that money and that power. These power brokers have maintained that control for over a hundred years until now! Something happened; a perfect storm of political, economic, science and social whimsies, that nobody could have predicted would occur at the same point in history, shockingly reached a nexus. Now, at a single point of opportunity, the entire tide is about to change, but not without a battle royale that has already begun to spill onto the streets.

Steven Chu and lawyers from all of the energy and environmental committees, the major media, House, Senate and law enforcement groups have descended en masse in concurrent reviews of the connections of all of the players. Charts and graphics are starting to appear that show faces, boxes and lines drawn from individuals back to corporate interests much like the Elliot Ness mob charts that law enforcement used to present as they were about to bust up a Capone enclave. The Loan Guarantee Program, Section 136 funding and other efforts have clearly been halted in their tracks by oil and coal interests, in a highly visible set of delays as the battles move close to the public eye. Steven Chu, who?s past work has been funded by the US Government was all too familiar with the process but even his ?revolutionary physicist? agenda could not have prepared him for what he found when he arrived at 1000 Independence Avenue in DC.

The White House, Chu, House and Senate activists and a select team of outside consultants are busy reviewing every individual at DOE, their role, their connections and the power structure that exists. Multiple public secondary hearings have already been called by Senate committees and closed door meetings are underway constantly in one of the highest pressure, most intense, most revolutionary efforts to rebuild an agency ever attempted in the Capitol. The other side is not blind to this effort and, while their power has been diminished, they are hard at work to thwart the fix. Every tool of political pressure, manipulation and social massage is being brought to bear. The effort has gone public as the first barrage of prime time TV commercials from the oil and coal industry, in relatively incredible volumes, at incredible cost have started to roll across the television airwaves, nationally, pleading for a new ?appreciation of oil and coal? and admonishing Americans that it ?isn?t so bad, really??

More money is on the table, not only ready to be spent but already late and delayed, causing alternative energy companies to go out of business simply because they were promised the money , they ramped up to receive it and now they have higher than normal overheads, no money, and an even worse survival rate. So the plan of the opposing oil and coal industries is working, they are putting the alternative energy companies out of business simply by tactical logistics, but, if that money does come unstuck soon; the largest funding for alternative energy in world history will take place and then things could change. Hungry early-stage companies move light-years faster than old stodgy oil companies so it is possible, for the little new companies, even with less money and time, to supersede the old oil and coal giants. Will they, it is all up to Chu and his Watchmen? stay tuned??