When McDonald’s franchisee Tom Wolf built his latest restaurant in Huntington, W. Va., late last year, he installed two chargers for electric vehicles so customers could juice their batteries while eating. So far, the charging station has been used a few times.
Though it is unclear whether electric cars will be a hit with American drivers, the number of places where they can plug in is growing fast. James Hagerty has details on Lunch Break.
“It’s for the future,” says Mr. Wolf, who spent $6,385 on chargers that are about the size and shape of a parking meter. He doesn’t know anyone in Huntington who owns a plug-in car but expects that will change once electric vehicles like the Chevrolet Volt and the Nissan Leaf become more widely available.
Across the U.S., such equipment is proliferating even though it is unclear whether plug-in cars will prove popular. Walgreen Co. has chargers outside four Texas stores and plans to add more there and in San Francisco, Orlando, Fla., and Washington, D.C. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc. expects to have chargers outside some Tennessee restaurants within months. Murphy Oil USA, a gas-station operator, is testing one in Chattanooga, Tenn., to gauge demand.
Fewer than 15,000 all-electric cars are on U.S. roads, says Plug In America, a group promoting the technology. The Obama administration hopes one million such cars will be zipping around in 2015, reducing oil dependence, although others expect it will take longer to reach that level.
Read the entire article at: The Wall Street Journal
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