At this new ultra-fast charging station for electric cars along a highway in Denmark, it takes 15 minutes to recharge a vehicle—far faster than plugging in at home, but still slower than pumping gas. The designers took advantage of those extra minutes: Unlike a gas station, this is a place where people actually want to spend time. “The charging stations revolve around a green rethink of the traditional gas station where lines of vehicles and the smells of gas fumes and car exhaust are the norm,” says Dan Stubbergaard, architect and founder of COBE, the firm that designed the station. There is, of course, no ... (full story)