Businesses interested in hosting an electric car charging station can learn more about the possibility at a Commercial Hosting Partners Forum set for Thursday, February 24, at the Knoxville Chamber.

The informational meeting will be from 9:30 a.m. until noon at the Chamber offices at 17 Market Square. Representatives from Nissan North America, ECOtality, KUB, TVA and the City of Knoxville will take part in the forum.

The event is being held in conjunction with Nissan's "Drive Electric Tour," which will be in Knoxville at World's Fair Park from Feb. 25-27, to give local drivers a chance to test drive the new Nissan LEAF.

The city, ORNL, KUB and TVA are part of the Tennessee region of the EV Project - a partnership between the Department of Energy, ECOtality, Nissan North America and General Motors to introduce the Nissan LEAF and Chevy Volt electric vehicles in a handful of test markets across the United States.

Knoxville is one of those test markets and as part of the project it will be receiving publicly-accessible charging stations for the cars - the first of which are expected to begin reaching the streets here later this year.

The City of Knoxville is working with ORNL to install 10 solar-assisted public charging stations in the Market Street and Civic Coliseum garages, but there will be many other public stations located in Knoxville and nearby.

"The number of stations to be located in the area has not been finalized yet," said Jake Tisinger, the city's sustainability coordinator, "but we would like to see them placed at both city and commercial establishments."

The partners in the EV Project in this area are currently in the process of determining where the charging stations should be located.

The hosting forum is designed to give business and commercial property owners the information they need to decide if they would like to host a charging station.

The stations are pedestal structures that resemble conventional gasoline pumps. Cars plug into them to recharge. Owners of the new electric cars will receive home charging stations, but having a network of public stations allows electric vehicle drivers more flexibility on the road.

"The forum is a great way for businesses to learn about the possibility of hosting a charging station," Tisinger said. "Many chargers could be installed at little to no charge to the host site. There will be people at the forum who can answer your questions and look at some the benefits of hosting a charging station."

For more information about the forum, e-mail [email protected] or call  865-215-2065.

The "Drive Electric Tour" will be held from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Feb. 25-26, and from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m., on Sunday, February 27.

For more information about the "Drive Electric Tour," or to schedule a test drive, please go to www.nissanusa.com/leaf-electric-car while more information about the EV Project can be found at www.theevproject.com.