The First Electric Freeway Is An Oregon Trail

Interstate 5 crosses Washington state from Oregon to Canada. And later this year, work will begin to make it the first electric highway in the United States. It’s good to be a Volt owner in the Pacific Northwest.

While I enjoy the mental image of lightning bolts six lanes wide, the electric freeway project’s goal is actually to install 10 Level-3 electric charging stations along the route. Each station can charge at 400 volts and 30 amps, enough to fill up an electric vehicle to 80 per cent in a half an hour.

The stations, funded by a $US1.32 million federal grant will be situated every 129km, close enough to ensure that future Volt and Leaf owners won’t run out of juice. Because it’s a lot easier to bring a tank of gasoline back from a station than it is a tank of electricity. [Autoblog Green via Inhabitat]