For electric cars to become mainstream, infrastructure must be in place that allows electric car owners to leave the house confidently knowing they will find a charging station if needed. In Europe, some of the biggest automakers are making sure such infrastructure is in place by building a highway network of fast charging stations form Norway to southern Italy and Portugal to Poland. The idea is to break electric cars out of the early adopter niche, in which they are charged slowly overnight at home and used for short commutes.