Murphy OilGasoline retailing giant Murphy Oil USA on Saturday unveiled the company's first electric car charging station at the Lee Highway store that was its first U.S. location.
Murphy opened its first U.S. store in Chattanooga 15 years ago and now has more than 1,100.
The El Dorado, Ark., company is joining with Eaton Corp. to test the unit that officials said can provide a full charge in 30 minutes.
"We sell the fuels our customers want," said Tom McKinlay, Murphy Oil USA president, who was at the store. "We'll be listening to our customers."
Plans are to offer charges for free for an indefinite period, he said. After the companies learn more about how customers are using the charging station, the unit will go to a pay-for-use model.
"The idea is to build a revenue model," McKinlay said.
Murphy picked Chattanooga because of its proximity to Nissan's Smyrna, Tenn., plant, he said. The Japanese automaker is expected to start making its all-electric Leaf vehicle at Smyrna by late 2012.
John Wirtz, manager of Eaton's electrical transportation infrastructure business unit, said the company wants to understand users' habits.
He said most chargers now take four to six hours to fully boost an electric car. The unit at the Murphy store will help deal with so-called "range anxiety" that drivers face because of limited availability of charging stations, Wirtz said.
U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tenn., termed Murphy's actions "a bold move."
"Murphy is taking a leap forward," he said.
Wayne Cropp, who heads Chattanooga's Enterprise Center, said that placing the unit in the city advances its technology frontiers.
"We're at an evolving stage of new technology," he said.