WattStation: Your City's New Car Charging Unit

The industrial design superstar Yves Behar and GE provided a look at their forthcoming car charging unit, the WattStation, today. Behar describes it as a "a small, soft, and friendly dispenser of energy." I don't think it's literally soft, but it does look non-threatening. It's certainly much more attractive than a gas pump.

---

They come in a variety of colors, and the control panel at the top is tilted at a "service angle." Behar's a genius!

And here's a video of Behar describing the project.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7Fe0hV-kyc

GE is promising these stations will be able to charge a vehicle in four to eight hours and will start hitting streets in 2011. No word on how many they'll roll out initially or which cities are first in line (though San Francisco is probably a safe bet).