Seattle is known to have some of the highest EV adoption rates of any city in the U.S. So you’d be forgiven for thinking that the public charging infrastructure would be similarly well represented in the region. But as we learned this week, good isn’t good enough for electric vehicle infrastructure provider ECOtality, which told Seattle-based King5.com earlier this week that poor sales figures were responsible for lackluster EV charging station rollout in the area.

Just like gasoline cars, the real-world range of electric cars depends on a lot of different factors—from the climate and road conditions to car speed and the number of passengers on board. Does your EV get less range than the E.P.A. estimates? Follow these tips.

The battle cry to “plug in” your car might need to be adjusted, because wireless charging of electric vehicles is getting real. WAVE Inc., a company spun off from Utah State University, recently won contracts to provide its inductive chargers for electric buses in Long Beach, Calif., and for the Monterey-Salinas Transit Authority. Maybe the EV in your driveway isn't that far off?

Best Buy was Ford’s charging installation partner, but the big-box retailer is backing away from its wholesale embrace of EVs. Ford is going with an industry leader, AeroVironment, which is also a provider for Nissan, Mitsubishi and BMW’s ActiveE.

Supporters of a new California bill would like to see all public charging stations in the state be made available to drivers without a subscription, via a quick credit card or phone transaction.

While many shops and businesses provide free electric car charging to customers in the same way that free Wi-Fi is offered, some cities appear to be reluctant to offer the same perk to EV owners. The solution of course, is for cities to offer electric car charging on municipal grounds—but charge a small fair amount for the electricity they use.

Nissan wants to see 600 electric car rapid chargers throughout the United States by the end of March 2014. The rapid chargers can add about 50 to 60 miles of range in less than 30 minutes. The company also wants to support a two-fold increase in Level 2 240-volt public charging stations—to 22,000 locations nationwide. This isn't the first time that Nissan has set out ambitious goals for EV charging infrastructure.

The basic idea is that one car alone can’t do much, but when 100 are plugged in the same time they represent a formidable amount of electric storage that utilities can call on during times of high demand. It's called load leveling or frequency regulation, and it will be more important as intermittent renewable energy sources such as solar and wind are added to the grid.

For years, automakers have been trying to figure out what an electric car needs to offer before an average consumer will make the switch from gas to electric. Longer range and a competitive sticker price would help. But there's also a strong argument that speedy daily EV recharging times will make the biggest difference.

Kroger is adding 225 Blink Level II and Level III chargers at stores in Phoenix, San Diego and Los Angeles. But, of course, supermarkets aren’t the ideal site for public charging, because if shoppers aren't inside all that long, and a 30-minute Level 2 charging event isn’t hugely useful.