Today’s opening of the golden arches on Kildaire Farms Road saw not only the state’s first green McDonald’s, it also was the opening of the first public car charging station in the North Carolina. The parking lot of the restaurant is outfitted with two ChargePoint locations.

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At roughly the size of a parking meter, the digital kiosks (pictured) are always ready to accept a ChargePoint account-holder’s key fob. A simple swipe unlocks the station’s door, revealing a receptacle where electric car drivers can plug in. Once the car is connected (with a user-supplied cable), the station’s little metal door locks down to protect the AC connection from weather, bumping off (like in the laundromat), and vandals disconnecting the cord. During charging the timer on the device’s face counts up the charging time. Should one reach a complete charge, the station automatically stops the charging process. Once the user returns, he or she swipes their fob to disconnect the power and release the security door.

The receptacle door covers an area that actually can hold a portable electronic device, too, so one can charge their iPhone while keeping it locked and secure. The company also reminds customers that their stations are suitable for Segway charging as well.

Currently the system only offers 120V connections, but plans are in the works for a possible 240V connection, though because of Federal Regulations, an SAE J1772 charging interface is more than likely to be the next step.

A local resident was at the charging station with his electric pickup truck he bought from Virginia Power a few years ago. His 26 battery cells live under the bed of the truck, and offer about 50 miles on a complete charge. Charging times varies by connection. 120V connections take “all night” to take an exhausted battery to a full charge while a 240V connection takes about 6 hours to reach a full charge.

Technology has vastly improved since the modification of his truck about a decade ago, however today’s plug-ins still have some work to do. A $100,000 Tesla Roadster has a range of around 250 miles while the upcoming plug-in version of the 2010 Prius is reported to sport only a 12-mile EV range.

Currently the restaurant is not reserving the premium parking spaces in front of these two kiosks to electric drivers. The restaurant may, however, dedicate these spaces to hybrids until demand for the chargers increases.

Charging stations like these are, though, popping up rapidly around the country. Another station in this state will come online later this week, in fact. A representative from NovaCharge, the Tampa outfit that handles the SouthEast installations of this station network, said that the company’s goal is to have a presence in navigation systems and with Google to provide station location information.

The technology is certainly a “chicken and egg” phenomenon. People will not invest in a car they cannot charge away from home while the energy industry doesn’t want to needlessly rollout unwanted technology. However demand for the cars is probably the last stop, and positively will not sell without stations like these being reasonably accessible around the area. Certainly it will be interesting to watch the growth of this new wave of tech.