I heard on the radio this morning and several online outlets have also reported that South Carolina is getting 80 electric charging stations installed – 40 of those beginning in early December, 2010.

Here in South Carolina, the electric companies, and hopefully, the economy will get a slight boost by the installation of these stations. Columbia, Greenville, Charleston, Conway, Myrtle Beach, Spartanburg, Rock Hill and Union will have charging stations installed for owners of cars like the Chevrolet Volt (pictured at left, image from Chevrolet.com) and the Nissan Leaf.

In the long run gas stations will suffer or convert, with a gas war sure to start up with companies like GM saying that they will be transitioning much of their production into electric cars by 2015. In other areas, adoption by companies like GE will help with the electric car’s availability and price. With help from GE (and likely other major players) these green, efficient electric cars hopefully will experience a price drop bringing them more solidly into the average car owner’s reach more quickly.

Plug-In Carolina, a nonprofit founded four years ago in Charleston by Jim Poch, is coordinating the effort with the help of two grants from the S.C. Energy Office totaling $480,000 and with support from utility companies, including SCE&G in the Midlands, Santee Cooper in the Lowcountry and Duke Energy in the Upstate.

- Many Online News Sources