Next time you find yourself stranded out in the middle of suburbia with a low battery in your electric car, you can just whip out the PlugShare app and find a total stranger to hit up for a charge.

PlugShare attempts to solve one of the most annoying things about electric vehicle ownership: the damn things require constant recharging. And if you're not at home, finding a plug for them can be at best a hassle and at worst impossible. With PlugShare, anyone can sign up to turn their house until an electric vehicle charging station, offering up their outlets and extension cords to keep those EVs powered up. Drivers using the app would be able to call or text you to ask permission, and then show up at your house and plug in.

So why would people volunteer to spend cents worth of electricity charging up the cars of total strangers? PlugShare suggests that it's a good way to foster a sense of community among fans of EV, which I guess is true, but for the drivers, I'm not sure what you'd do while you're waiting for your car to charge. Will you have to talk with the dude whose electricity you're currently mooching the whole time? Can you use the bathroom? Raid the fridge? Maybe take a nap on the couch? And will people be expected to kick in a couple bucks for the privlige?

The other way to look at the PlugShare app is from a business perspective, where places like coffee shops might be able to lure in extra business by promoting EV charging, maybe even with some of that sexy 240 volt hotness. That, I think, could work, since there's something in it for everyone, no awkwardness involved.

PlugShare is currently available on the app store, for free.

PlugShare, via Wired