The key to getting electric vehicles into the mainstream -- one of them, anyway -- is infrastructure. Extending range is necessary, of course, but the ability to recharge at, say, the office would go a long way towards making EVs a viable everyday option. The office is one example -- how about the mall? Charge while you shop is the idea behind the recently announced partnership between Car Charging Group Inc. and the Mall of America. Car Charging Group will install EV chargers at the mall in Bloomington, Minn., which covers 4.2 million square feet and has 13,000 parking spaces. The mall receives more than 40 million visitors each year.
It's a high-profile move, and it's a good start -- but it's just a start. For EVs to be truly viable means EV chargers at the smallest malls as well as the biggest.