Top executives from the major car manufacturers met this week to map out the future of the industry. One of the topics of discussion focused on the need for widespread implantation of public electric car charging stations. It didn’t take long for the discussion to flip over and become a talk about how there was no need for a charging station infrastructure.

The auto execs generally felt that home charging would be sufficient to meet the public’s needs and that electric car charging stations would end up unused wastes of money.

They went on to emphasize the importance of improvements in EV batteries and how that will improve electric car range and reduce the need for charging stations.

What do you think? Is an electric car charging station infrastructure a waste of time?

In an effort to increase the popularity of electric vehicles on the West coast, a company called Coulomb Technologies has stepped up to the plate to make some major headway. The company would be installing a third of the total 4,600 electric vehicle charging stations in California alone. Over 1000 installations are scheduled to be put in by December, with the rest in place by September 2011.

The installations are a part of $37-million project called ChargePoint America, funded partly by a $15-million stimulus grant administered by the Department of Energy through the Transportation Electrification Initiative.