electric cars break out of the cities

Motorway charge points could take electric cars onto the open road

It could finally see electric cars break out of the cities and onto the open road.

A network of rapid charging points that can recharge an electric car in around 15 minutes are to be installed in motorway service stations around the country.

Conventional charging points usually take several hours to provide enough power for modern electric cars.
With a range of around 100 miles, this has left the vehicles largely used for short journeys in towns and cities, limiting their uptake by consumers.

Manufacturers now hope that with a network of charging points in motorway service stations, it will allow owners to make longer journeys and help electric cars become more mainstream on Britain’s roads.

“The super-chargers we are installing can recharge a car in the time it takes to have a cup of tea in a service station,” said Dale Vince, founder of Ecotricity, the company installing the new charge points.

They plan to install charging stations at every motorway service station in the country to allow electric car owners to “fill up” their vehicles just as they would a petrol car while on long journeys.

A recent report by MPs on the Transport Committee at the Houses of Parliament, however, warned that provision of charging points may not stimulate demand for plug in vehicles.

thats all very well, but how many motorways have as many service stations as the M1, you can get on some motorways and not see a service station for 30, 40, or 50 miles. its not like you can pull off and go and find a rural charging station...

there is going to have to be a whole network of these super chargers...