Canada to Mexico on the West Coast Electric Highway
Electric vehicle drivers can more easily take road trips using the West Coast Electric Highway charging network. The north-south EV routes include Interstate 5, California Routes 101 and 99. The I-5 route stretches from Canada to Mexico. [Map]
The project is coordinated by the Washington State Dept. of Transportation, Oregon Dept. of Transportation and the California Governor’s Office.
The network is anchored by AeroVironment Fast Chargers that are CHAdeMO only. These fast chargers are located between 25 and 50 miles from each other. There are also hundreds of J1772 Level 2 charging stations on the routes.
Handling and operating the CHAdeMO connector on these fast chargers can be difficult. Here is a short instructional video demonstrating how to use the Yazaki CHAdeMO connector that are on many of these chargers. See: CHAdeMO Connector Instructional Video.
We stopped at several of the WCEH stations on a trip down the west coast from Seattle to San Francisco in 2017. The chargers were conveniently placed, well maintained and they all worked which is always good.
Another best practice employed at these plug in sites was pavement markings and regulatory signs to signal that the spots were for electric vehicle charging only. We never saw any that were ICEd. See: Virginia Lawmaker Wants $500 Fine and Towing for Blocking a Charging Station.
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