the footpath near your house – to convert your small yard into a mini driveway. This would create a space in which you would have easy access to electricity from your home for the charging of your electric car.

Some countries have been able to make roadside charging easier to accomplish for electric car owners by setting up power bollards – thick, low posts that have electrical outlets built into them. You can speak with your local council officials about having a power bollard installed in your neighborhood, close to your home. Depending on the subsidies that are available for supporting community use of electric vehicles, your community council may be able to fund the installation of power bollards with help from earmarked green funds. The cost will vary from place to place and installation is never cheap, but the powers that be may be convinced of the long term investment value of pursuing this green technology. 

There are also some car owners who make special arrangements with owners of local businesses to allow them to charge their cars from these business establishments. Making this kind of arrangement has many advantages:

• It helps local businesses foster goodwill in the community and builds a reputation for the business as an environment-friendly establishment.
• The presence of car owners charging their cars outside the establishment after business hours discourages burglars and vandals.

Even if your house is just a short distance from your office, it is still convenient to be able to charge from your office parking lot.

If your office has a private parking area for employees, you should make inquiries about whether you can charge your car from there. You can have an outside power outlet installed for regular charging from your office parking space, or you may trail a power cable from a window for occasional charging.

Many major cities and towns have installed public charging points, and more and more charging points are being installed as years go by and electric cars become more prevalent. It is important to know the location of the charging points in your area before you bring your new car home. Even if you do not need to use them on a regular basis, it still pays to know where they are for when you do need them.

The batteries made for electric cars are large and unwieldy. In fact, they are almost the same size as a large-sized combustion engine. They are much too heavy to move single handedly. In fact, you may need some equipment to lift the batter out of your car. Electric car batteries are made to be installed and removed at a service station, not in a home garage. A final option that may be considered attractive to some electric car drivers is battery swapping. While this is not yet widespread, there is a company known as Better Place that has created a business model based on battery swapping stations. They are currently working together with Renault to create electric cars with batteries that can be swapped out – uncharged for