So where do you plug in an electric car?

Chevy Volt

With the all-electric Chevy Volt headed to buyers next year, and Ford’s Focus and other amped-up models soon to follow, a lot of people are about to find out that plugging in might not be as simple as it sounds.

Does your garage have a 120- or 240-volt outlet? What permits or inspections do you need? Will you be able to juice up at work or other places? And what kind of money are we talking about?

In other words, there’s a battery of questions about how to keep electric cars going.

The city’s Bill Barker, formerly of Solar San Antonio and VIA Metropolitan Transit, hopes to find and share the answers. He will bring together homebuilders, landlords, employers, technical experts, bureaucrats and others into a workshop tomorrow morning to explore how to pave the way for an influx of electric cars.

The workshop’s key topics:

1. Changing hardware and city codes
2. Public outreach and education
3. Businesses and fleets

“Getting Ready for Electric Vehicles in San Antonio” will be held 9:30-11:30 a.m. Friday at the Alamodome, Meeting Room N.

Contact Barker at (210) 207-6322 or bill.barker@sanantonio.gov.

Some background:

• Future-proofing garages for electric cars
• Actions leaders can take