Fear of No Outlets
“The [electric] carmakers are eager to make their first customers happy, so they are bending over backwards to help with the charging infrastructure and to allay ‘range anxiety’ — the fear of running out of electricity and getting stranded, because all-electric cars cannot go as far as conventional ones. (This is not a big factor for the Volt, whose gasoline engine will kick in after the batteries are spent.)
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Many cities, from Paris to Houston, are scrambling to install outlets that will allow people to charge (or, most likely, top off their charges) at places like Starbucks or shopping centers. But ultimately, analysts expect that most charging will be done at home, probably at night, with the public infrastructure providing a means to alleviate range anxiety.”
See article at: NYT 31Oct10: “Plenty of Hype — and Questions — About Electric Cars”