Charge 'er up: Electric car 'pump' arrives in Oregon

By Associated Press Published: Aug 5, 2010 at 4:28 PM PDT
Charge 'er up: Electric car 'pump' arrives in Oregon
The nozzle for a new electric car charging station is shown where Portland General Electric and NEC announce opening North America's first public-use, quick-charge station for electric vehicles in Portland, Ore., Thursday, Aug. 5, 2010. The Takasago rapid charging station is specialized for recharging lithium-ion batteries and requires only 20-30 minutes to recharge a battery to 80 percent of full strength. (AP Photo/Don Ryan)

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski is helping corporations promoting all-electric cars show off a device designed to make charging a battery more like filling up at the gasoline pump.

It looks like a vending machine with a rubber hose attached.

On Thursday, the governor stuck the hose into the nose of a Nissan Leaf at a news conference. Afterward, he went for a spin.

The device from Japanese electronics maker NEC has been installed at the Portland headquarters of the electic utility PGE.

A full charge is supposed to take about half an hour.

Cars that can use it, though, aren't out yet. The Leaf is due in December.

A project using federal stimulus dollars will put similar devices in the Interstate 5 corridor.


 

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.