Nissan: AAA could provide roadside electric vehicle charging

In a lengthy article comparing the long-term costs of the Nissan Leaf and the Chevrolet Volt on Boston.com, we find this interesting tidbit:

[Mark] Perry [Nissan's director of product planning, pictured above] says Nissan also will provide roadside assistance and envisions motoring-aid companies such as AAA having fast charge units on their trucks.

We have here two things worth noting. First, that Nissan is already planning on ways to combat range anxiety and is thinking of what will happen when the reality of electric vehicles (EVs) meets the public-at-large. Second, there are some serious logistical challenges to remote recharging from a AAA truck. How big a battery must the service vehicle carry around to provide enough energy for your car? Would it be better/easier to just tow the car to an outlet somewhere? How much sense does it make to send out a gasoline-burning truck to charge up an electric car? However these questions get answered, it's clear that driver education will need to go hand in hand with reassurances that someone will come save you if you run out of juice as EVs go mainstream.

[Source: Boston.com]