Fast EV chargers will be placed in Portland, Eugene, Salem, and Corvallis as part of a plan to install 1,100 charging stations in Oregon by July! Car manufacturers and charging companies want to eliminate anxiety related to electric-vehicle's also known as "range anxiety".

Another company, Eaton Corp., will modify and integrate electric-vehicle quick chargers at a plant in Wilsonville, OR in the Portland Metro Region.

The announcements come as representatives of ECOtality Inc., a San Francisco company, sign up Oregon companies and retail chains as locations for publicly accessible chargers. Gov. Ted Kulongoski said in a statement Wednesday that electric vehicles mean economic opportunity.

"This is just the beginning of new, private investments because of our commitment to moving the entire Pacific Northwest away from fossil-fuel vehicles," Kulongoski said of Eaton's venture.

Charging-station companies are racing to install units as auto manufacturers prepare to launch electric vehicles. Electric-vehicle owners will install charging equipment in their homes or businesses. But they will also be able to charge batteries at commercial chargers on the road.

Fast chargers, capable of recharging batteries in 15 to 30 minutes, will be concentrated along the Interstate 5 corridor. But the great majority of the 1,100 units scheduled for installation will be "level two" chargers, which motorists might use for anywhere from 45 minutes to two-to-three hours, said David Mayfield, ECOtality area manager for stakeholder services in Oregon.

The slower chargers may be desirable for retail businesses that want customers to stick around and shop a while.

ECOtality is the project manager for a $230 million installation initiative, about half of which is funded by the U.S. Energy Department using stimulus money. The EV Project, the world's largest rollout of electric-vehicle infrastructure, includes 16 states and major metropolitan areas, installing more than 15,000 charging stations during three years.

Oregon cities, government agencies, utilities and other entities have helped ECOtality develop maps identifying high-priority areas for chargers. The maps take into account factors including transportation routes, employment centers and zoning.

Only about 310 charging stations in the 16 states will be fast chargers, said Caitlin Cieslik-Miskimen, an ECOtality spokeswoman. Oregon will get at least 23 of the fast chargers, Mayfield said.

Electric-vehicle drivers could plug into the slower level-two chargers "if they wanted to top off a battery," Cieslik-Miskimen said, "or just get a little bit of extra juice so they can get home."

"We'll make sure downtown Portland has a lot of chargers that are accessible," she said.

In Wilsonville, Eaton plans to work on a quick charger for the North American market capable of recharging an electric vehicle to 80 percent of battery capacity in 15 to 30 minutes. Eaton, a Cleveland-based power-management company, employs 85 at the 80,000-square-foot plant.

The work force will remain the same for the new project, said Kelly Hubbard, account executive with Largemouth Communications. She did not know how many chargers the plant will produce.

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