If you read Inhabitat on the regular, you know that two topics we’re gaga about are electric vehicles and industrial design mastermind Yves Béhar. That’s why we’re thrilled to announce that Béhar and his studio fuseproject teamed up with GE to create a brand new electric vehicle (EV) charger called the WattStation™ — and word on the street is it can power up cars in just 4 to 8 hours (as compared to the standard 12 to 18 hours of other stations). The two green powerhouses officially unveiled the new consumer-friendly design today in San Francisco, and we think it may change the way people use and see electric vehicles.
Designed for GE’s ecomagination initiative, the WattStation offers speedier battery charging packaged in a modular design that makes upgrades and keeping up with the latest advances a snap for the user. “Good design is when a new technology enters our life and makes it more simple, beautiful, and healthy,” said Béhar. “The GE WattStation achieves this with a welcoming design that will seamlessly integrate into the urban landscape and become a natural part of our daily driving routine.”
In keeping with fuseproject‘s modus operandi, the WattStation has a pretty face too. Its slim form is pleasing to the eye, and the status of each station is color-coded, making it child’s play to figure out – a green LED ring around the top of the charger means it’s available, a red ring indicates that the charger is out of service, and a blue ring means that the charger is currently in use.
GE is planning to release the first WattStations in 2011 for city streets, but fuseproject and GE are working on models for personal use in homes and garages too.
+ GE WattStation™
As beautiful as these EV chargers are – it would help the cities/sites they are located in if they also offered opptys for co-branding or advertising for additional revenue streams.
How the hell are you supposed to “juice up” with all the cars parked curbside. Or are you just supposed to wait to get lucky with the one parking spot next to the “juice pump”?