Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen test-drove an electric car from Nissan on Wednesday at the automaker's headquarters in Franklin, a suburb in Nashville, urging the construction of charging stations.

Bredesen vowed to help in the research and development of recharging stations in Tennessee co-working with the Tennessee Valley Authority utility and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory which belongs to the Department of Energy.

The governor said the state could give up to $15 million toward developing the charging stations, according to Businessweek.

Nissan, the third-largest Japanese automaker, has revealed plans to introduce plug-in electric vehicles in the U.S. in 2010 and mass market them globally two years later.

Tennessee