ND1018111

Title: Lots of Charging Stations but Few Electric Cars

Description: With fewer than 15,000 all-electric cars on the roads, charging stations are waiting ? and waiting ? for customers.

Page Content:

NEW YORK ? Despite a proliferation across the U.S. of electric charging stations for electric cars ? at McDonald?s restaurants, for instance ? few people are taking advantage of the service, because sales of electric cars have been modest, The Wall Street Journal reports.

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Just ask Tom Wolf, franchisee of a McDonald?s in Huntington, WV, who spent $6,385 last year on two chargers for all-electric cars. So far, he said the station has been used just a few times, because he doesn?t know anyone in town who owns a plug-in car.

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"It's for the future," Wolf said, adding that he expects electric cars to grow in popularity.

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Wolf is not alone.

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Walgreens has chargers outside four Texas drug stores with plans to add more in California, Florida, and Washington, D.C. And Cracker Barrel is planning to add chargers outside some of its Tennessee restaurants. Additionally, Murphy Oil USA is testing one in Chattanooga to determine demand. But consumer response has been underwhelming.

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According to Plug In America, there are fewer than 15,000 all-electric cars on U.S. roads today, despite Obama administration hopes to increase that number to one million by 2015.

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For Menno Enters, Walgreens? director of energy and sustainability, the possibility of being out in front of the movement is what has prompted the company?s current investment. ?We wanted to be the first mover," Enters told the newspaper.

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Pike Research projects 13,000 charging stations by the end of 2012, many ?fueled? by subsidies. Over the past two years, the U.S. Energy Department has provided about $130 million for pilot projects that help fund chargers at homes, offices and public locations.

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The supply of electric cars is expected to increase over the next two years, as Ford, Toyota, Honda, BMW and Tesla Motors all debut models. Despite the trend, J.D. Power & Associates expects all-electric vehicles to have a negligible impact on overall car purchases, accounting for less than one percent of U.S. auto sales in 2018.

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"The premiums associated with these products are still more than what the consumer is willing to bear," said Mike VanNieuwkuyk, executive director of global vehicle research at J.D. Power.

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Nissan, on the other hand, is more optimistic about consumer adoption and predicts all-electric sales to comprise 10 percent of global vehicle sales by 2020.

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Content Subject: Petroleum Retailing

Formatted Article Date: October 18, 2011

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