One of the biggest hurdles facing electric vehicles, no matter how far their range, is the need to recharge batteries, which typically takes several hours. But citizens of Tokyo may soon find recharging their batteries no more difficult than pumping gas.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), has developed a device that can charge an electric vehicle to go 40 km (25 miles) after just a five minute charge, and 60 km (37 miles) after a 10 minute charge. Mitsubishi and Subaru plan to install the stations at Japanese dealerships. Eventually, they will be at supermarkets, post offices, convenience stores and many other locations. TEPCO, Japan’s largest utility, hopes to eventually setup a network of 1,000 recharging stations.

Source: Reuters