Washington State opens 10 new public charging stations on West Coast Electric Highway; Seattle to Canadian border
30 May 2012
The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), along with electric charging station partner AeroVironment opened 10 new public charging stations—seven along Interstate 5 and three along US Route 2 in northern Washington—that provide EV drivers the ability to travel from Seattle to the Canadian border.
Eight of the 10 new charging stations in Washington feature AeroVironment’s DC fast chargers, which deliver a full charge for a nearly-depleted EV battery in less than 30 minutes. All locations include AeroVironment Level 2 chargers.
Two of the 10 locations – at rest areas near Blaine and Vancouver—offer only Level 2 chargers. There, electricity is provided free to drivers by Adopt a Charger and the Seattle Electric Vehicle Association.
The West Coast Electric Highway is a vision for a transportation corridor that fully supports electric vehicles from the Canadian to Mexican borders, connecting California, Oregon and Washington along I-5.
The AeroVironment charging stations are available in Blaine, Bellingham, Burlington, Tumwater, Centralia, Ridgefield and Vancouver along Interstate 5 and in Sultan, Skykomish and Leavenworth along US Route 2. Two additional stations will be installed in the coming weeks.
The US Department of Energy provided seed funding of $1.5 million through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to expand the West Coast Electric Highway in Washington. The funding is administered by the Department of Commerce through the State Energy Program.
Electric vehicle drivers will be able to access the charging stations by first enrolling in AeroVironment’s Charging Network. Once enrolled, EV drivers will receive an AeroVironment Network key fob that will provide free access to all AeroVironment chargers along the West Coast Electric Highway for a limited time, before switching to a subscription program.
Great news. And this is just the beginning. Here're the locations in WA -
http://evsolutions.avinc.com/services/subscriber_network/57
8/10 have DC Quick Charge, EV30, 50 or 60kW... typically the specs for the 60kW are:
Power Rating: 60kW
Power Factor: 0.95
Input Power: 480V, 3 Phase AC (Other inputs available)
Input Current: 84A max
Frequency: 50Hz / 60Hz
Efficiency Rating: >90%
Max. Output DC Current: 200A
Max. Output DC Voltage: 50-600V
Voltage Accuracy: 1%
Current Accuracy(Lesser of the two): .5A or 5%
Charger Shutdown Time: 15 ms
Duty Cycle Rating: 100%
Storage Temperature: -40°F to 140°F | -40°C to 60°C
Operating Temperature: -22°F to 122°F | -30°C to 50°C
Relative Humidity: 95% (Non condensing)
The storage temp low Centigrade metric appear off.
Posted by: Reel$$ | 30 May 2012 at 09:44 AM
No, it's not. At -40 degrees C and Fahrenheit are the same.
Posted by: Arne | 30 May 2012 at 02:25 PM
THX Anne.
Posted by: Reel$$ | 30 May 2012 at 03:28 PM
The latest note is that 123 batteries is facing unsupportable losses and expenses!
High rate chargers put a very large load on the grid that would result in very high demand charges for any company using such equipment alone; local lights would dim just like the hotel lights did in Montreux when the big electric trains went through. Local lead batteries could save much cost if their energy were built up slowly and then moved to the automobile. Flywheels could even be used.
If two thirds of the money that was spent by governments to promote lithium batteries for automobiles had been spent for building the twenty year old proven ZEBRA battery, they would cost one forth of the present lithium automobile batteries due to economy of scale and have a bit more capacity per unit weight.
Hydraulic hybrid systems can be retrofitted at low costs even to all ICE automobiles and lorries to save at least a third of their fuel use. Why bother with electric? Every body who views this website should also see the ARTEMIS site and its comparison of the electric and built and proven hydraulic hybrid technology. A big engine is not needed for fast acceleration. A 20 kW engine could handle any and all automotive trips in a hydraulic hybrid.
One of every two automobiles owned by a family could be a very cheap lead-acid model with a 3kW range extender, and is used for most local trips. Atraverda can reduce the weight and size of a lead electric automobile battery by another ten percent at least on top of it current reductions. The acid-water solution takes seven times the volume of the actually electrically used lead materials, and atraverda could eliminate most lead not used for energy storage. FIREFLY was also moving in that direction. ..HG..
Posted by: Henry Gibson | 30 May 2012 at 10:17 PM
FIREFLY died?
Posted by: HarveyD | 31 May 2012 at 10:51 AM
I guess this is a nice thing to have, but I'd rather see the build out of charging stations across metro areas rather than between them. Few people are going to drive the current crop of EVs for intercity trips. Being able to keep running your chores in town without worry--that's a much more likely scenario, IMHO.
Posted by: Nick Lyons | 31 May 2012 at 09:08 PM
I agree with NL. Inter-city areas should be done first followed by hifhways etc.
Posted by: HarveyD | 01 June 2012 at 06:49 AM