Europe gets faster charging stations

Several major carmakers are planning to set up a European network for speedy charging of electric car batteries as the auto manufacturers seek to overcome customer resistance to the vehicles.

The partnership, among Volkswagen AG, BMW, Ford and Daimler AG, aims to establish “thousands” of stations along European highways by 2020, they said in a statement on Tuesday. With an initial target of about 400 sites, the group plans to start the rollout in 2017, deploying technology that will be “significantly faster” than current setups.

The rare cooperation shows the strains on carmakers as they invest billions of dollars to develop battery-powered vehicles to comply with tighter environmental regulations.