Old News.

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What's old is new again. You've heard it a thousand times and now it's deja vu all over again. In preparation for the launch of Toyota's new plug-in hybrid Prius PHV, charging stations are appearing around the globe. This one popped up in PreWarCar's Dutch neighborhood recently.

In contrast to a pure petrol-electric hybrid, a plug-in takes some of its "juice" from electric mains, allowing emissions-free motoring part of the time. The public charging station is even more important for the Nissan Leaf, Mini E and Mercedes-Benz A-Class E-Cell, for these battery-only vehicles dare not venture away from home more than half their cruising range.

Charging stations are not new(click). They were a were an important part of the picture back in the "golden age" of the electric are in America, 1912-1920. In fact, it was the lack of this infrastructure that delayed the popularity of the electric for a full decade. In 1899, for example, only 22 percent of the homes in Muncie, Indiana, had electricity. Of course, Yankee ingenuity often came into the picture. If no charging station was available, one could charge one's Detroit Electric with nothing more than some wire and a pair of pliers. (text: Kit Foster)

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