PORTLAND, OR - Portland General Electric and NEC Corp. have opened a quick-charge EV station that's open to the public.

The station was awarded public-use certification by the city of Portland following the successful installation and testing of the station manufactured by Takasago Ltd., a subsidiary of NEC.

NEC is a leader in the integration of IT and network technologies. PGE, headquartered in Portland, is an electric utility that serves more than 822,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in Oregon. The EV station is installed at PGE headquarters in the Two World Trade Center parking garage, located at 121 SW Salmon St. in Portland.

The Takasago Rapid Charging Station recharges electric vehicles with lithium-ion batteries and requires only 20 to 30 minutes to recharge a battery to 80 percent of full strength.

PGE and NEC officially opened the quick-charge station Aug. 5 with Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski, who charged up an all-electric Nissan LEAF. Portland and the state of Oregon have been designated as top-tier launch markets for the Nissan LEAF when it goes on sale in the United States in December.

"Quick-charging stations are an exciting advancement in our effort to bring electric vehicles to Oregon," said Kulongoski. "By making charging convenient and available for public use, we are telling car manufacturers that Oregon is ready for the next generation of electric vehicles -- and we want our state to be a leader in introducing these cars to the rest of the country."

"Partnering with NEC to bring the nation's first publicly available quick-charge station to Oregon further solidifies PGE's commitment to developing the infrastructure needed to support electric vehicles now coming to the U.S. market," said Jim Piro, president and CEO of PGE. "With the addition of the Takasago Rapid Charging Station to the growing network of EV charging stations in Oregon, we are able to further our research on how this new technology will interact with our electrical system and support our EV-driving customers."

"As a supplier of electric vehicle batteries, our introduction of the rapid electric vehicle charging station is a natural stage in the evolution of NEC's environmentally friendly solutions," said Hideki Niwaya, general manager of NEC's public utility solutions division. "Looking forward, NEC aims to continue developing mission critical solutions, including information and communications technologies (ICT) services and smart grids that represent the latest in technological innovation."

The Takasago Rapid Charging Station complies with the "CHAdeMO," a global EV charging standard developed in Japan. The station provides power output of 50kw (50-500V, 0-125A) and supports power input of AC200V+-30V.

PGE's alliance partner, Portland State University, and the Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium will document the acquisition, installation, certification, and testing procedures for this quick charger and release its findings in September.