WINSTON-SALEM -- Now you can just pull into Wake Forest Innovation Quarter, grab a cable instead of a hose and plug in for a different kind of juice to keep your car rolling.

"We are and have been getting requests from several of our colleagues here in the Innovation Quarter for charging stations for even just an outlet where I can plug my car in,’’ said Eric Tomlinson, the president of Wake Forest Innovation Quarter.

It's among a handful of charging stations coming on line across the Triad that have been installed in response to that demand.

"That's a focus of what we've been putting in place. So folks, if they needed to pull off and charge, we have it in different locations,’’ said Scott Rhine, the executive director of Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation (PART).

So far, charging stations have also been installed in Greensboro, Kernersville and Lexington through a grant from the NC Clean Energy Technology Center. Another one's in the works in High Point.

The Plug-In Electric Vehicle (PEV) charging station looks a lot like a gas pump. There's a place to swipe your credit card and and a meter to show your car's getting "juiced up." 

"The rate is going to be $1.50 an hour to use the station. That's going to be equivalent in gas at around $1.25 a gallon," said Dexter Turner, president of OpConnect LLC., the company that makes the pump.

He says it takes an average of two hours to charge up an electric car, which is convenient if you’re shopping or dining.

"So you're going to go into a restaurant and have a meal, and come out, and now your car is fully charged," said Turner.

Depending on the car, a charge will get you 40 to a couple of hundred miles. 

"That battery system infrastructure is starting to go, and it's nationwide, and so will see more of those,’’ said Rhine. "This is just a start, but it's a good step in the right direction."

Officials say it’s just part of the "innovation" here in the quarter.

"All of our emphasis is on sustainability and this is one element of that," said Tomlinson. “As we start to develop other buildings, this will become a further feature of those buildings."