At the same time with the state offering incentives for buying electric vehicles, San Francisco authorities have decided to give yet another boost to the industry by offering free EV charging in public garages until 2013.
You can find the charging spots on Google Maps, and since there are around 90 of them, I guess it won’t be too difficult. Now don’t imagine those charging spots as being the cutting edge of technology. They’ll feature a 110V and a 240-volt sockets, which are enough to charge a Nissan Leaf to 80 percent in three hours.
It’s an interesting advantage on the cost part, but it has a drawback – you guessed, the ultra-long charging time. Those kind of chargers are suited for home use, where you can afford to leave your car overnight and then use it, but otherwise it’s a little bit difficult to imagine how one would be able to find a free spot, leave the car, take the bus, and then come back.
To make the project more usable, at least they should have thought making a battery swapping system that can be used for free, or equip the stations some high-power chargers already available. Nevertheless, electric cars are limited by this drawback a lot, but encouraging people through whatever means is surely a step in the right direction.
[via allcarselectric]
