Washington State to Build First 'Electric Highway'

This sign (above) is the Washington State Department of Transportation’s proposal for pointing electric-vehicle drivers to public charging stations along Interstate 5, which Gov. Chris Gregoire wants to turn into the nation’s first “electric highway.”

Using a $1.32 million federal grant, the state will create a network of seven to 10 Level 3 fast-charging stations running the length of the major highway that stretches from the Oregon to Canadian border. Level 3 stations can usually recharge a vehicle’s battery in 15 to 30 minutes.

The idea is to position the charging stations just off the highway in shopping centers. Businesses will be happy because they’ll draw customers who might buy coffee or a sandwich while waiting for the battery to charge.

The stations will be spaced no more than 80 miles apart, which would be suitable for a Nissan Leaf owner who can get about 100 miles per charge. The state is looking at several contractors for the project and is still unsure how much customers will be charged for electricity.

Seattle is also taking part in the EV Project, a federal study that aims to look at how EV drivers use their vehicles and interact with the grid.

I-5 to Become the Nation’s First Electric Highway? (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

Comments

SWEET!

80 miles apart for a car with a 100 mile range. Great! Now, what happens when the weather is extreme, there is traffic congestion, and the battery life has started to diminish slightly? Time to push yourself to the nearest Volt or Prius dealer.

if there is congestion and the car is not moving. you dont use the battery, thats the beauty of it.

You don't use the battery when the car is not moving? What about headlights, heater, defrost, rear defrost, windshield wipers, etc. (not to mention radio/CD/NAV, cellphone charger, etc.)
Look up what happened to Johnny Carson when he was driving one of the first DeLorean's with an undersized alternator...

Everything kinda goes hand in hand. Build the cars then the infrastructure develops...as the infrastructure develops then more cars are produced...100 years from now they'll wonder why we ever used gasoline to run our cars. As the technology improves we begin the see the battery range get larger and larger. At least it's nice to see it happening while I'm still alive.

@ skinner,

Again, if you are purchasing or leasing a LEAF, then you DO realize that you aren't using it for LONG overhaul drive, right? Even if you are driving at optimal efficiency on fwy, and according to what u r implying, a LEAF driver will fully charge the LEAF at the 1st station, then after 80 mi of driving, charge again at the 2nd station, it will take you at least over 30 min or so to charge up the car at the 2 charging stations combined (assuming that your charge at the 1st station is quite full before you begin the 1st charging). Having the stations spaced 80 mi apart is not a mean to encourage you to test you max distance. A more likely scenario is someone entering the fwy at around the 1/2 pt between the stations.

On a recent roadtrip from Virginia to Pennsylvania, a few rest stops along the highway had electric charging stations in a portion of the parking lot.

Let's assume the electric car owner intends to take a long trip. They have to stop every 80 miles in every major town to recharge, and have to spend 30 minutes at each stopover. So, realistically, this trip will start to take so long, you might as well stay home.

hey good to hear that......no worries with more electric charging stations are building out........... it will be helpful for the environment........ gr8 news.....

Glad I live on the OTHER side of the Sate. Way to put us into debt, Gregoire.

@ziggy,

Have you noticed that the government won't develop any CNG infrastructure? It doesn't fit in with their global warming agenda. Electric, however, is an inferior technology, so they are trying to get all of us into on of these micro-soda-can-cars. Let the private sector decide which technologies work.

300,
Natural gas burns cleaner than gasoline and your engine would basically last forever with an oil change every couple years.
However, it is a precious fuel that heats millions of homes. I'd rather see natural gas burned in 90 percent efficient furnaces or even 70 percent efficient electric generation plants than in internal combustion engines that are only 20 percent efficient. It would be a waste of a precious fuel. Plus your mileage per gallon is less than gasoline or diesel. Electric car batteries on the other hand will keep getting better and can be charged by zero emission nuclear plants, Wind Turbines and Solar photovoltaic panels as all those technologies mature. Basically I disagree with the Pickens plan, though I praise T Boone for suggesting an alternative to oil.

How is CNG a better technology? And when did electric become inferior (to any other form)? Anytime you burn something, a lot of energy is lost as heat.

I agree with letting the private sector work, but the more prevalent infrastructure is electricity.

That's fine. I prefer diesel anyway. The only reason I call electric 'inferior' is because it can't support the long road trips that so many Americans use their cars for.

300-

You'll be surprised by the modern electric car if you look up what is really in the pipeline. The cars that are coming out over the next decade are a completely different vehicle than the electric cars of the '90s.
The biggest problem they'll have is overcoming perceptions of being small, slow, unsafe, and inconvenient. The first three of those problems have been completely addressed, and the last has had HUGE improvements. This project is a big part of addressing that. Over the next 3-5 years they'll still be a bit less convenient for long trips, but they will definitely meet the needs of virtually all Americans within a decade.
The private sector is rushing into electric cars at record speed. They have made up their mind, and the decision is electric.

@65Chrysler300

Letting the private sector decide what technology works would be suicide. Your an idiot. Have fun on the other side of the nation when in 20 years the world runs out of oil and everything plunges into chaos. I'll be in Washington functioning just fine. I'm moving to Seattle ASAP and this was the selling point for me.