A Nissan Leaf is charging in a demonstration of PSU's new "Electric Avenue."
Evan Sernoffsky / OPB
The Portland State University campus is now home to a half-dozen stations for charging electric and plug-in hybrid cars.
PSU, Portland General Electric, and the city of Portland are partners on the project. They call the city block with the charging stations "Electric Avenue."
(Producer Ifanyi Bell from OPB's Arts and Life toured Portland's "Electric Avenue" during Tuesday's press event.)
Most of the stations will take up to six hours to charge a car. There's one that'll charge a car in just half an hour. PSU president Wim Wievel says the idea is to provide a service to eco-friendly commuters – and to study how the stations are used.
"We don't know yet exactly what all the issues are that consumers run into; what charging station and technology they'll like the best. These are all interchangeable, but as you can see there are different types and different models. So we're doing research on all of that," Wievel said.
PSU is covering the cost of the charge. Utility officials say if a driver did have to pay, filling the battery wouldn’t cost nearly as much as a tank of gas.
The power on Electric Avenue may be free, but drivers will have to pay to park.