Do you think that the oil and gas stations really want to jump in on charging stations?
We have to rely on parking lots, businesses, homes, etc to get it going.

I've driven my Nissan Leaf 9,000 miles and not once used a public charging station, although there are several in my area.

There is 480V charging available for the Leaf, which will supposedly charge it to 70% of capacity in 1/2 hour, but Nissan warns it's inefficient and detrimental to the life of the batteries. As yet, there's no promising solution to the problem, and we may be up against physical limits of the format. And no one wants to sit and wait even 1/2 hour to charge their car.

In contrast, the price of Li-Ion batteries is dropping precipitously, and lithium-air tech may double the energy density of batteries in the next 5-10 years. So by the time anyone can effect an infrastructure buildout EV drivers will be charging their batteries at night for 300 miles of uninterrupted driving. This will bypass the need for 95% of public charging stations.

The exception of course would be for extended trips, which will require a limited public-charging infrastructure.

what kind of range do you get out of your Leaf?

An all-electric car doesn't really do me any good unless I can confidently get at least 100-120 miles out of an overnight charge. I live in a small town and mostly walk or bike in-town, with the bulk of my driving coming in trips to a large city, with no discernible public charging infrastructure, about 50 miles away.

At this point it would probably not be a good choice for you, although if your trips involve a commute many big cities have stations in parking garages. It's pretty easy to find out:

http://www.evchargernews.com/

I live in L.A. and have a second (gasoline) car, which I've used twice in the last 3 months.

As I suspected, nothing in my state (Indiana). Thanks!

Lithium-Ion batteries have their issues too....

AP Exclusive: 787 grounded, but batteries can fly

http://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/AP-Exclusive-787-grounded-but-batteries-can-fly-4246843.php

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Japan-787-probe-finds-thermal-runaway-in-battery-4250901.php

Lithium ion batteries are more susceptible to catching fire when they overheat or to short-circuit than other types of batteries.

PamW

cobalt in li-ion batts.
well known as a fire hazard

Charging stations are pretty well populated, but they're still slow. I can find chargers, but I can't wait. My BMW Active E has a range of about 100 miles. Then, when I charge, it refills at 20mph, meaning a full charge takes almost 5 hours.

For 90% of my driving, the 100 mile range is just fine. I can charge at home overnight. That other 10% is where I have to take a gas powered car or plan for a lengthy charge in order to get home.

Tesla has it right with the 200-300 mile batteries and 30 minute charging in key areas. Once the price on that technology comes down, you'll see mass adoption.

Manufacturers can't even standardize fast charging. Not sure if that will happen.

Plus, with batteries costing $10-20K, it seems like it would require a high startup cost to get enough batteries at each station to make it work.

Very, very cool.

How are you liking it so far?

It definitely drives like a BMW, very zippy and it goes where you point it. No major problems so far, it's been a great car. I can easily get 100 miles out of it in terms of range. It's going to be hard to give it up in 2014 when the lease is up.