An ‘electric highway’ for electric vehicles, which will one day span the length of the US west coast, has moved a step closer with ten new charging points on major routes near the Canadian border.
The latest charging stations from AeroVironment along Interstate 5, which runs from the Mexican to Canadian borders through California, Oregon and Washington, and US Route 2 will now allow electric car drivers to travel from Seattle to the Canadian border in confidence.
Eight of the ten charging stations are fast DC chargers, which can fully charge an electric car’s battery in less than 30 minutes.
All locations feature AeroVironment’s Level 2 chargers, which take longer to recharge vehicles, but are sited near shopping and entertainment venues so that drivers can leave vehicles to charge while doing something else.
In two of the ten charging points, in rest areas near Blaine and Vancouver, electricity is provided free of charge by Adopt a Charger and the Seattle Electric Vehicle Association.
“[This] moves us a giant step closer to the day when we can drive our electric cars from Bellingham, Washington to San Diego, California along Interstate 5, secure in the knowledge we can quickly recharge our vehicles along the way,” commented Washington Governor Chris Gregoire.
The US Department of Energy provided $1.5 million to support the expansion of the West Coast Electric Highway through Washington.
Drivers wanting to use the Electric Highway first have to join AeroVironment’s charging network.
For further information:
www.avinc.com/
www.evsolutions.com
evsolutions.com/avnetwork
Related stories:
GE unveils new networked electric vehicle recharging system (30-Apr)
Illinois governor rolls out electric vehicle fast charging network (13-Apr)
California Governor puts 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles on the road (26-Mar)
NRG Energy plugs $100 million into Californian electric car network (26-Mar)
Article source: http://www.energyefficiencynews.com/i/5152/
