Which came first the Chicken or the Egg?

Which came first the chicken or the egg? A riddle that has special significance when talking about Electric Vehicles. For a long time people have argued you cant have electric vehicles until there is a charging infrustructure, and you cant build a charging infrustructure without Electric Vehicles to use it.

I've had my own experiance with this, in trying to get the company I work for to install charging stations at work, I've been told we cant install them if there's no cars to use them, among other excuses.

But in a few months I will be getting a Chevy Volt, and hopefully buying a new house which will be 40 to 50 miles from where I work. While at first I'll only be able to drive to work on electric power, and will have to drive home using gas, I hope I'll be able to convince my company to install charging stations or at least install 120v outlets in the parking lot, but that may take some time.

If I'd kept my MINI E, I'd probably be able to commute with it without charging at work, at least on good days, as long as I was careful with my speed, but not in the winter because the range is reduced too much.

But with the Volt I can continue to drive to work year round, no matter how far away my new home is, while I work at convincing the powers that be of the advantages of installing Electric car charging stations.

Some day I hope all my driving will be on electricity generated by Solar Panels but until I can get an electric car with a 150 mile range in all weather, or my company installs charging stations where I work, its the Volt for me.

So to answer the question which comes first the electric car or the charging station? The answer is the Volt.