A $1.32 million federal grant will soon make the I-5 corridor from Canada to Oregon the country’s first electric highway–complete with electric charging stations plugged at every 80 miles (the average e-car has a charging range of about 100 miles). In total, ten Level-3 electric power stations will be placed along the I-5 highway, and will have the capacity to charge a typical electric vehicle in a little over 30 minutes.
The state plans to make I-5 an e-highway this fall, after this summer’s bidding process by electric charging station manufacturers.
One thing to keep in mind is that Level-3 electric power stations only have the capacity to charge the average electric vehicle to about 80 percent, and electric car battery capacity can change as a result of inclement weather. That said, the fact that we’re in the process of building the nation’s first electric highway is absolutely a step away from oil dependency, which is hugely significant in and of itself. Here’s to the first U.S. electric highway!
[Via: inhabitat]
[Photo Via: inhabitat]
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So for a 600 mile trip, one would need to stop roughly 6 times, (every 80 to 100 miles) and wait 30 minutes for their car to carry on their way???
Let’s compare the time it would take:
A gas car driving at 60 miles per hour would be arrive in 10 hours.
An electric car driving at the same rate would still need the 10 hours to cover the ground, and an additional THREE hours to make the trip.
By the way, where is all of this electrical output going to come from? Coal most likely.
Individual transit is in of itself a wasteful ideal banking on cheap energy. If the idea isn’t centered on mass transit then it will be dead on arrival once fossil fuel output peak if it hasn’t already.
Emphasis on the step in the right direction. Who’s to say that we can’t eventually replace coal power plants with solar or wind or geothermal plants? and yes 30 minutes a charge does seem like a lot but it will get better and 100 miles is a conservative estimate for electric car efficiency; I’ve seen cars that are estimated to get 300 miles to the charge.
Like the before mentioned, It doesnt make a whole lot of sensce to me! The electric highway should be for mass trans and frieght movement. If we all switch to electric single occupancy vehicles the environment would collapse under the strain of mining rescources to put one in every driveway.
As an employee at one of oregons largest dependents of electricity, we have an energy commitee to figure out how to scale back or produce our own. A rep for PGE is often at these meets and one time we talked about the large intercontinental grid and is faults and more often failures (The big black out of the east coast and canadas eastern coast) the demand is out pacing its capacity.
Billions of dollars are being spent on just maintaince and repair of an aging grid, “PGE man” said the estimate is in the trillions just to rebuild and replace. What about funding, not enough to go around. HMMMM!
What I think is more bio/hybrid mass trans and ped ways, employer sponsored carpools and heavy tax on single occupancy vehicals hybrid or not. the electric highway is a good Idea but not a solution for pollution and oil independence.
After all we do need are rigs to get out to the places we love to explore and last i checked none had a charging station at the trail head.