Washington State DOT breaks ground on Electric Highway

[ChargedEVsMag]

Construction began Wednesday on a public EV charging station in Bellingham, Washington, the first in a network that the state plans to build along major highway corridors. The West Coast Electric Highway will provide EV drivers with fast chargers every 50 miles or so, all the way from Oregon to Canada... Newswire >

 

[coqui]

Cool !!
Wish North Carolina would do likewise...all the way to the beach :lol:

 

[klapauzius]

Too bad I cant reach Bellingham from Seattle right now...
But then I guess all the LEAFS in Washington state must be up there, which is why they
are starting to build there first ....

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

should have 8 more in place in the next 7 weeks!! it will be awesome!

 

[Reddy]

Too bad I cant reach Bellingham from Seattle right now...
But then I guess all the LEAFS in Washington state must be up there, which is why they
are starting to build there first ....

I don't understand. There are multiple charging stations between Seattle and Bellingham (total of about 90 miles). There are chargers in Everett, Marysville, and Burlington all right off the freeway. Sure they are L2, but at least they are located in shopping areas. Enjoy the trip. My closest station (except a Nissan dealership) is over 100 miles away with stops in the gigantic tourist destinations of Desert Air, Mattawa, Vantage, Beverly or Schwana. I'd be lucky to get L1. The alternative route (freeway) is 120 miles through the Yakima valley which may eventually get some stations but we'll have to wait and see.

Reddy

 

[Drivesolo]

I don't understand. There are multiple charging stations between Seattle and Bellingham (total of about 90 miles). There are chargers in Everett, Marysville, and Burlington all right off the freeway. Sure they are L2, but at least they are located in shopping areas. Enjoy the trip. My closest station (except a Nissan dealership) is over 100 miles away with stops in the gigantic tourist destinations of Desert Air, Mattawa, Vantage, Beverly or Schwana. I'd be lucky to get L1. The alternative route (freeway) is 120 miles through the Yakima valley which may eventually get some stations but we'll have to wait and see.

Reddy

It all comes down to time. For those that have the time to make the drive up there from the Seattle metro area and regions south, it might be fun to spend a day L2 charging all the way for that drive to see WA state's first DCQC. But I think most would opt to do other things w/ their time and wait for a closer DCQC that can be driven to on one charge.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

well, "Somewhere" had to be first and making it at either end of the "Highway" makes sense and the other option is putting one near Vancouver, WA which would be just up the road from the QC's in Portland, so i have to agree with the decision to do North over South.

besides, its like the publicity deliveries of the Leafs last December or is the ground breaking date being missed by people here??

ok, now the QC is out of the bag, lets get to the "real" installs!

 

[garygid]

L3 (or QC) enables "legs" of trips.

To turn a 2-hour leg into 10 hours with two 4-hour shopping experiences is not really helpful in making longer, multi-leg trips.

If I travel to LA, a QC once entering LA to have enough e-fuel to go around LA during the day, and then another QC before heading home ... makes a reasonable 180-mile day-trip to LA possible, with only about an hour (or so) of extra "fueling" time.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

L3 (or QC) enables "legs" of trips.

To turn a 2-hour leg into 10 hours with two 4-hour shopping experiences is not really helpful in making longer, multi-leg trips.

If I travel to LA, a QC once entering LA to have enough e-fuel to go around LA during the day, and then another QC before heading home ... makes a reasonable 180-mile day-trip to LA possible, with only about an hour (or so) of extra "fueling" time.

Amen Gary. another thing is that some destinations require a car. LA is a prime example. so to park your car somewhere and go is not an option. In Seattle, sure, i can plug in downtown, check out several things that are in a 6-7 block area but i live in S. Cal and its go here then go there and its alway 6-7 miles and LA is probably the least "pedestrian friendly" city i have ever visited.

so ya, QC when you get there so you can do something for the day. then another QC for the ride home

 

[TLeaf]

Excellent news! Now all I need is a QC at the Tulalip resort and Bellingham is within reach..
No worries here about setting one up in Bellingham first; let them work out the kinks with an install in a low/moderate usage location before trying to tackle a QC station within range of Seattle.

 

[SteveInSeattle]

Worries me though, what if I drive to B'ham only to find:
1) An ice car blocking the charger
2) Junkies stole the wiring to recycle the copper for some dope money
3) It is "down" when I get there
4) There are 3 Leafs ahead of me in line....

 

[bradleygibson]

Hopefully it will participate in one of the many charger location apps which provides status.

I plan to to drive from Woodinville to Vancouver (BC) for a weekend in my Leaf once this thing is up--it will feel great!

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

AeroEnvironment is the installer (Chargepoint) and they most def have a website for charger locations which also provides status as far as whether they are working or being used. also have droid app.

 

[TurboFroggy]

Cool! It is about time they started on this. I am 70.6 miles away via the freeway, I will be there for the ribbon cutting when it is all official!

 

[UhClem]

It's located about 1000 feet from where I work

When (if) it stops raining here, I'll take a few pics.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

It's located about 1000 feet from where I work

When (if) it stops raining here, I'll take a few pics.

Nice! Let us know when its up and running

 

[UhClem]

On my afternoon break, I walked by the site and noticed that they're installing the charger now. They had just lifted it onto the concrete pad a few minutes before I got there.

Photo Album

 

[klapauzius]

well, "Somewhere" had to be first and making it at either end of the "Highway" makes sense and the other option is putting one near Vancouver, WA which would be just up the road from the QC's in Portland, so i have to agree with the decision to do North over South.

besides, its like the publicity deliveries of the Leafs last December or is the ground breaking date being missed by people here??

ok, now the QC is out of the bag, lets get to the "real" installs!

I think near Seattle would have made much more sense, as most Leafs in the area are very likely near Seattle.
It seems not very thoughtful to start in places with low demand first...

 

[GaslessInSeattle]

well, "Somewhere" had to be first and making it at either end of the "Highway" makes sense and the other option is putting one near Vancouver, WA which would be just up the road from the QC's in Portland, so i have to agree with the decision to do North over South.

besides, its like the publicity deliveries of the Leafs last December or is the ground breaking date being missed by people here??

ok, now the QC is out of the bag, lets get to the "real" installs!

I think near Seattle would have made much more sense, as most Leafs in the area are very likely near Seattle.
It seems not very thoughtful to start in places with low demand first...

virtually all green highway chargers (9+ along I-5 and Rt 2 will be in place by February 15th... don't expect to hear about them all until they are actually turned on and certified, which may very well happen all at once since the person who will be certifying them has to be flown in from LA and they don't want to have to do that for each one individually. In other words there will be some installed and not working for some time.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

well, "Somewhere" had to be first and making it at either end of the "Highway" makes sense and the other option is putting one near Vancouver, WA which would be just up the road from the QC's in Portland, so i have to agree with the decision to do North over South.

besides, its like the publicity deliveries of the Leafs last December or is the ground breaking date being missed by people here??

ok, now the QC is out of the bag, lets get to the "real" installs!

I think near Seattle would have made much more sense, as most Leafs in the area are very likely near Seattle.
It seems not very thoughtful to start in places with low demand first...

virtually all green highway chargers (9+ along I-5 and Rt 2 will be in place by February 15th... don't expect to hear about them all until they are actually turned on and certified, which may very well happen all at once since the person who will be certifying them has to be flown in from LA and they don't want to have to do that for each one individually. In other words there will be some installed and not working for some time.

well Jan 18th is one year anniversary of "Standard" Consumer delivery of the Leaf in WA to... ah ME!! so i accept that as the "turn on" date for the WA State part of the Highway Project