Electric car infrastructure on its way here

Australia will be only the third country to introduce a network of charging stations for electric cars, under a scheme introduced by Silicon Valley group Better Place.

Australia will be only the third country to introduce a network of charging stations for electric cars, under a scheme introduced by Silicon Valley group Better Place.

Together with AGL, the two businesses will set up charging stations in Victoria to be completed by 2010.

Electric vehicles rely on battery power and must be charged at docking stations before use. The battery technology involved is relatively new, but AGL says a battery-powered car can still travel 160 kilometres to the charge, which takes eight hours, and can travel 320,000 kilometres on the average life of a single battery.

AGL says it will power the charging stations through renewable energy sources, including wind and hydro power. Better Place expects the first mass market electric vehicles to be on the market in 2012.