The new issue of Wired has a great article about a company called Better Place started by Shai Agassi, a former exec at SAP. The Better Place business model is to separate the cost of an electric car from the cost of the battery. The customer would own the car, and would be able to charge the battery for free at Better Place charging stands located in various lots, or could charge the car at home. Because the charges would take up to 4-5 hours using existing technology, the customer could also quick-swap batteries for a fully charged one at a Better-Place licensed garage. A GPS-enabled program running in the car would locate charging stations and garages and keep track of when the driver would need to duck in for a recharge.

Right now the company is setting up operations in Israel and is looking to expand to Hawaii, both of which are small, densely populated areas that are essentially "islands" (Israel in a political sense) with few drivers who take the vehicles long distances. It seems to me that an easy way to expand this program and start putting the initial infrastructure into place in larger areas in the U.S. would be to partner with Zipcar or similar car-sharing services that 1.) cater to people usually driving shorter distances, 2.) have progressive/eco-friendly customer bases that would be interested (or probably ecstatic) in driving electric cars, and 3.) already have lots set up that could house the electric chargint stations.