Electric

who fear they’ll run out of electricity on the road with nowhere to charge.

The Tesla Model 3, which began shipping to customers this fall at a starting price of $35,000 before tax incentives, is able to travel at least 220 miles on a charge. GM’s Bolt, which is available for sale nationwide for

$37,500 before incentives, goes at least

238 miles on a charge. Most major automakers are working on longerrange electric vehicles at similar or even lower prices.

Since the average commute is about

25 miles per day, “running out of energy is just not going to be that common,” said John Nielsen, managing director of automotive engineering for AAA.

Workplace charging more common:

Aside from the home, the workplace is the most common place to charge up. Experts say employers are increasingly installing charging units as they realize it’s an amenity that helps keep workers happy.

“You’re going to charge wherever your car naturally parks, and where it parks the most is at home and work,” said Pasquale Romano, CEO of ChargePoint, which operates a network of charging stations and facilitates payments.

Although some foreign cities are experimenting with curbside charging stations, it’s unlikely to come to U.S. streets anytime soon. “That’s an area of the ecosystem that’s really underserved right now,” said Simon Ouellette, CEO of Mogile Tech, which runs the EV station-finding ChargeHub app.

But McNabb said people who don’t have access to a garage or parking lot charger can access “community depots” with super-fast charging where they can pop in and out.

Faster charging will speed elec- tric-car sales:

Technologists are aiming for systems that could eventually charge electric vehicles in as little as 10 minutes.

But that will require automotive companies to reconfigure battery chemistry and vehicle electronics to accommodate the intense power demands of extremely fast charging, said Michael Berube, director of the Department of Energy’s Vehicle Technologies Office.

McNabb said it’s important for stations to be “future-proof,” meaning capable of making upgrades as batteries improve. “What was technologically advanced three years ago is not really even relevant today, so I think it’s important we keep our eye on that so we end up continually adapting to changing technologies,” McNabb said.

Public stations may become unnecessary:

Eventually, it’s possible no one will charge their vehicles — and all those public charging stations could become unnecessary.

If auto futurists are right that we’re headed toward a world in which people no longer own cars and instead hire selfdriving, electric vehicles through ridehailing apps, fleet operators likely will charge up the vehicles.

“Something like that would reduce the need for public charging,” Ouellette said.

Someday, electric cars could even charge wirelessly through so-called inductive systems — chargers embedded in parking spots or the roadway itself. Proponents of inductive charging say the technology’s first application could be for city buses or trucks.

If inductive charging ever becomes available, the very concept of a charging station could go by the wayside.