Public charging connections are available throughout the world in public parking areas, at businesses, hotels, RV parks, state and national parks, and Tesla Supercharging Stations. Electric outlets are ubiquitous and can often be used if charging stations are not available.

Finding Public Charging Stations

You can find charging station information and smart phone apps to locate charging stations at the following links:

PlugShare  http://www.plugshare.com  Apps are available for Apple Watch and smart phones.

Tesla Superchargers  http://www.teslamotors.com/supercharger

Paying for Public Charging

Although some public charging stations are free, many require payment.   Some public charging station networks offer subscription plans with monthly fees.  These plans may be beneficial for very frequent users of these charging staions.  Although charging station companies are permitted to offer membership or subscription plans, California law prohibits companies providing public charging stations from requiring subscription fees for the use of the charging stations.   Use without the payment of a subscription or membership fee must be permitted and the user must be permitted to pay with a credit card or mobile technology.

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=hsc&group=44001-45000&file=44268-44268.2

Charging at Government Agencies, Schools, & Other Tax Payer Funded Locations

The California state constitution generally prohibits the making of a gift of money or thing of value.  Because this could be interpreted to mean that cities, counties, school districts, and other taxpayer funded entities could not offer free EV charging, the California Legislature passed Assembly Bill 2414 that specifies that the use of electricity for EV charging is not a gift of public funds.   http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140AB2414

Locations of charging stations to serve California's key Corridors.

- Drive the Arc charging locations  http://drivethearc.com/locations/

- Sites identified by California Energy Commission for DC Fast Charging https://www.google.com/maps

240 Volt Charging (J1772).   All electric cars have a charging connector (or include an adapter) that allows connecting to 240 volt  public charging stations.   The standard designation for this connector is J1772.  All 240 volt public charging stations use this connector.  

DC Fast Charge.  Most electric cars can be charged with high voltage DC power at public charging stations in roughly a half an hour.  This usually amounts to about 80% of the car's driving distance which can be as much as 150 miles for some cars.   Public fast charge stations are available throughout the United States.