First big piece of 'Electric Highway' gets juice

[ScienceRocks]

First big piece of 'Electric Highway' gets juice
San Jose Mercury News ^ | 3/16/12 | Jeff Barnard
First big piece of 'Electric Highway' gets juice - San Jose Mercury News

Electric car drivers hit the road Friday to inaugurate the first major section of a West Coast "Electric Highway" dotted with stations where they can charge up in 20 minutes.


The stretch of 160 miles of Interstate 5 served by eight stations marks the next big step in developing an infrastructure that until now has been limited primarily to chargers in homes and workplaces.


The stations go from the California border north to the Oregon city of Cottage Grove and are located at gas stations, restaurants and motels just off the nation's second-busiest interstate. One is at an inn that was once a stage coach stop.


Spaced about every 25 miles, the stations allow a Nissan Leaf with a range of about 70 miles to miss one and still make it to the next. Electric car drivers will be able to recharge in about 20 minutes on the fast-chargers. The charge is free for now.


"I would say range-anxiety with these fast chargers will be nearly a non-issue for me," said Justin Denley, who owns a Nissan Leaf and joined the caravan. Inspired by the stations, his family is planning a trip from Medford to Portland, a distance of about 280 miles. Last summer, he took the family on a 120-mile trip to the coast and had to include an overnight stop at an RV park to charge up.


He expects the trip to Portland to take perhaps three hours longer than in a gas car, because the only chargers available for the last 100 miles are slower, level 2 chargers.


(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...

 

[Political Junky]

Progress toward our getting off of dependence on oil.

 

[MolochSolomon]

whatever.

 

[Chris]

Great news.

A journey of a 1,000 miles begins with a single step....

 

[Stephanie]

lol, so progess is taking more time out of your lives...all to get away from that evil, OIL.....why don't we just go back to horse and buggy..

 

[Political Junky]

Regressives unite.

 

[bripat9643]

Anyone who buys a Nissan Leaf is a kingsized moron.

First big piece of 'Electric Highway' gets juice
San Jose Mercury News ^ | 3/16/12 | Jeff Barnard
First big piece of 'Electric Highway' gets juice - San Jose Mercury News

Electric car drivers hit the road Friday to inaugurate the first major section of a West Coast "Electric Highway" dotted with stations where they can charge up in 20 minutes.


The stretch of 160 miles of Interstate 5 served by eight stations marks the next big step in developing an infrastructure that until now has been limited primarily to chargers in homes and workplaces.


The stations go from the California border north to the Oregon city of Cottage Grove and are located at gas stations, restaurants and motels just off the nation's second-busiest interstate. One is at an inn that was once a stage coach stop.


Spaced about every 25 miles, the stations allow a Nissan Leaf with a range of about 70 miles to miss one and still make it to the next. Electric car drivers will be able to recharge in about 20 minutes on the fast-chargers. The charge is free for now.


"I would say range-anxiety with these fast chargers will be nearly a non-issue for me," said Justin Denley, who owns a Nissan Leaf and joined the caravan. Inspired by the stations, his family is planning a trip from Medford to Portland, a distance of about 280 miles. Last summer, he took the family on a 120-mile trip to the coast and had to include an overnight stop at an RV park to charge up.


He expects the trip to Portland to take perhaps three hours longer than in a gas car, because the only chargers available for the last 100 miles are slower, level 2 chargers.


(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...

 

[bripat9643]

Great news.

A journey of a 1,000 miles begins with a single step....

So did WW II.

 

[bripat9643]

Progress toward our getting off of dependence on oil.

That isn't "progress." That's pure idiocy.

 

[Mudslinger]

Hypothetical scenario. What if your rushing your pregnant wife to the hospital after her water broke and you look down at the gauge and your charge is low and you have to stop the car for 20 minutes to get it recharged while she is in agony? What if you have a emergency and you have to go somewhere but all the sudden there is a power outage in the area? This is a disaster in the making.

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

The Luddites @ USMB aren't going to like this.

First big piece of 'Electric Highway' gets juice
San Jose Mercury News ^ | 3/16/12 | Jeff Barnard
First big piece of 'Electric Highway' gets juice - San Jose Mercury News

Electric car drivers hit the road Friday to inaugurate the first major section of a West Coast "Electric Highway" dotted with stations where they can charge up in 20 minutes.


The stretch of 160 miles of Interstate 5 served by eight stations marks the next big step in developing an infrastructure that until now has been limited primarily to chargers in homes and workplaces.


The stations go from the California border north to the Oregon city of Cottage Grove and are located at gas stations, restaurants and motels just off the nation's second-busiest interstate. One is at an inn that was once a stage coach stop.


Spaced about every 25 miles, the stations allow a Nissan Leaf with a range of about 70 miles to miss one and still make it to the next. Electric car drivers will be able to recharge in about 20 minutes on the fast-chargers. The charge is free for now.


"I would say range-anxiety with these fast chargers will be nearly a non-issue for me," said Justin Denley, who owns a Nissan Leaf and joined the caravan. Inspired by the stations, his family is planning a trip from Medford to Portland, a distance of about 280 miles. Last summer, he took the family on a 120-mile trip to the coast and had to include an overnight stop at an RV park to charge up.


He expects the trip to Portland to take perhaps three hours longer than in a gas car, because the only chargers available for the last 100 miles are slower, level 2 chargers.


(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...

 

[Steelplate]

Hypothetical scenario. What if your rushing your pregnant wife to the hospital after her water broke and you look down at the gauge and your charge is low and you have to stop the car for 20 minutes to get it recharged while she is in agony? What if you have a emergency and you have to go somewhere but all the sudden there is a power outage in the area? This is a disaster in the making.

Ummmm... how about this? You take the OTHER fuckin' car.

that being said....20 minutes is too long to wait. I'd sooner see a standardization of battery technology(they all use the same battery) and have battery swapping stations that can replace your battery in less time than it takes to fill up a tankful of gas.

That's part of the problem.... Every car company wants to have their own proprietary battery.... Reminds me of the day of Betamax vs. VHS...or more recently...Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD. Eventually they all came to a consensus... but it took forever.

If we really want to do this right and have a solid infrastucture that supports electric vehicles... Standardization and swap stations are the way to go.

 

[editec]

Stupid idea.

Electric cars are not a solution to our energy problems.

 

[LoneLaugher]

Do nutters have to be stupid in every thread? Is it some kind of rule?

 

[Stephanie]

Do nutters have to be stupid in every thread? Is it some kind of rule?

you should talk..this is all you do in every thread..

 

[Skull Pilot]

How much will it cost to put in charging stations every 30 miles?

And if you're running the heat or AC you might not even get 30 miles on a charge.

 

[Old Rocks]

EVs are not 'the answer'. But they are one answer. Particulary for people that generate their own juice through solar, wind, or small hydro. Most of us put the most miles on our vehicles in the daily work, grocery store, school, and social activies trips. For this, even the present limited range EVs are fine. As the batteries get better, the EVs will become more attractive. Particularly as gasoline goes past $5 a gallon.

 

[LoneLaugher]

Are we in agreement that it is desirable to develop alternatives to fossil fuels that are capable of powering our homes, businesses and vehicles?

Can we establish that as a national goal?

 

[Skull Pilot]

We can already make cars that get 40 or 50 mpg and we can make them for a lot less than we can make an electric car.

We have a nearly limitless capacity to make biodiesel already. It seems to me the best and most obvious fuel choice is being ignored for pie in the sky uber expensive alternatives. TDI diesel cars are getting 40+ mpg right now. Tooling these cars to run on refined biodiesel would be easy.

We could drastically reduce the cost of fuel and emissions in one shot and we already have the delivery mechanism in place so no new super expensive infrastructure will be needed.

 

[Old Rocks]

How much will it cost to put in charging stations every 30 miles?

And if you're running the heat or AC you might not even get 30 miles on a charge.

As the battery technology improves, the batteries will first match the average miles per tank, then greatly exceed that figure. And as for the cost of the charging stations, far cheaper than gas stations. In fact, you could put them at restuarants, coffee shops, and motels. Swipe your card, plug in, have a meal, or cup of coffee, and come out, unplug, and you are on your way.