Oregon Public Broadcasting

Oregon and Washington are set to become guinea pigs for the electric car industry.

The Obama administration announced Wednesday that the two states will get a network of charging stations designed to make owning an electric car easier. Salem Correspondent Chris Lehman reports.

The $100 million federal project will pay for thousands of charging stations in Oregon, Washington and three other states.

The idea is to make owning an electric car more attractive by taking the hassle out of getting it re-juiced.

Don Karner is president of Arizona-based eTec, which will install the electric charging stations and analyze their use.

He says everyone who buys an electric car under the program will get a charging station installed at their house, free of charge. But the plug-in opportunities won't stop there.

Don Karner: “It would become a very natural thing for you to charge your vehicle where you live your life, rather than taking your vehicle someplace specifically designed for fueling.”

The new federal money coincides with a change in policy in Oregon.

Governor Ted Kulongoski just signed a bill that phases out the state's tax credit for hybrid cars and replaces it with one for plug-in vehicles.