AREA COSTCO CHARGING INTO FUTURE : STORE OPENS POWER STATION FOR ELECTRIC CARS.

Byline: Teresa Jimenez Daily News Staff Writer

Jack Schultz drove over the Santa Monica Mountains from his Malibu home Tuesday without a problem, then pulled up to one of the few power pumps in the area to give his EV1 from General Motors Corp. an electricity fix.

The Westlake Village electric hitching posts for the new cars are being provided free of charge by the Costco warehouse store on Lindero Canyon Road. They are part of a planned network of charging stations across Southern California and Arizona that will allow drivers to travel farther without running out of juice.

The series of sites will allow Schultz and his wife, for example, to travel up the coast without worrying about having enough electricity to make it home.

``We're pretty careful, so we watch our range. My wife says, `Jack, you're down to two squares.' So we head home,'' Schultz said. ``This absolutely will help a lot. We can go many more places.''

A single charge, which takes several hours to complete, will provide enough power for about four hours of driving. The electric cars get about 70 miles of city driving and 90 miles on highways on 85 percent of a battery charge, according to General Motors.

Enid Joffe, manager of public charging for Edison EV, said the charging stations should help convince those considering buying or leasing an electric car to take the leap.

``I get calls from people who want to buy EVs or are leasing them and ask, `Where can we charge?' '' Joffe said. ``Now I can say, `Well, go to your local Costco.' ''

The Costco station - designated for ``Electric Vehicle Parking Only'' - is the first of many to come to the warehouse stores in Southern California, said Edmund Fitzgerald, auto sales administrator for Price-Costco's corporate office in Seattle.

Three will be installed at Costco stores in San Diego, and an added 11 will go in at Los Angeles-area stores by the end of the year, Fitzgerald said.

``We've made the decision: Yes, we'll do as many as it takes to provide a network for electric vehicles,'' Fitzgerald said. ``We're waiting for the vehicles to be out there.''

Fitzgerald said he made the original pitch to corporate officials, and convinced them that charging stations would be worth the investment in the long run.

``If 50 percent of the cars on the road were electric, imagine what would happen in a year's time in Los Angeles to the smog alone,'' Fitzgerald said.

A setup such as the one at Costco, with four pumps, costs about $4,000 for the equipment and about $20,000 for installation, Joffe said.

Other businesses have made similar commitments, including Wal-Mart, which has installed stations at stores in the San Gabriel Valley and the Inland Empire, Joffe said.

Among some of the criteria Edison EV looks for in a charging station location are high visibility and name recognition.

Joffe said she also looks for business centers where customers tend to park for longer periods. Fast-food restaurants would not be effective locations, since customers don't stay long enough to charge an electric vehicle. On the other hand, Joffe said, customers tend to stay for several hours at shopping centers and movie theaters.

For those who have thought about electric cars but were worried about their practical use, the stations offer a solution. But for motorists who already have electric cars, the current distance limitation is just one downside amid the many pluses.

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Photo: (1--color) From left, Patricia Van Evera, Betty De Santis and Janet Levett check out an EV1 recharging Tuesday at a Costco in Westlake Village.

(2--color) Westlake Village Mayor Doug Yarrow jokes around with one of the electric chargers.

Michael Owen Baker/Daily News