Ford, Honda Back Electric Charging Stations

In another California automotive first for Orange County, Ford and American Honda Motor Co. said they will put $100,000 each into a fund to build electric vehicle charging stations, with the first one to be installed near Disneyland in Anaheim. Edison EV, a subsidiary of Edison International, will run the “filling station,” at the Anaheim Hilton hotel.

The two car makers are joining forces because they figure that electric vehicles won’t catch on in the market until a service infrastructure is in place. In other words, says Honda spokesman Art Garner, few people are going to want a car that cannot be refueled on a trip.

Recharging time for EVs varies, but most require an overnight hookup to an at-home charging station. A network of way stations like the one in Anaheim will provide EV drivers the opportunity to extend their vehicles’ daily range with a partial recharge.

Ford and Honda use the same type of recharging systems on their cars and are installing compatible plug-in connectors at the Anaheim station. The companies want to force the industry to adopt a common recharging standard--there now are two in use--so that every electric vehicle can “fill up” at any public recharging station.

The companies opted to put the first station in Anaheim, Garner said, because they figure that the crowds that visit Disneyland and the Anaheim Convention Center and surrounding hotel and restaurant complex are a good bet to include a few electric car drivers.

*

John O’Dell covers major Orange County corporations and manufacturing for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-5831 and at john.odell@latimes.com