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West Coast highway just got a lot more EV-friendly

Eight stations dotted along a section of Interstate 5 from Northern California into Oregon are now able to quickly charge electric vehicles.

Suzanne Ashe
Suzanne Ashe has been covering technology, gadgets, video games, and cars for several years. In addition to writing features and reviews for magazines and Web sites, she has contributed to daily newspapers.
Suzanne Ashe

Say goodbye to range anxiety--well, while heading through the Pacific Northwest, anyway.

A 160-mile stretch of Interstate 5, dubbed the Electric Highway, now offers a little piece of mind for EV drivers, the Associated Press reported.

According to the story, EV drivers from the northern border of California to Cottage Grove, Ore., can stop at any one of eight stations, which are spaced out along the road about every 25 miles, for free.

Electric vehicles charge at three different levels: Level 1 DC, for example, uses 110 volts and vehicles charge over-night. Level 2 uses 240 volts, and can charge a car in three to four hours. But the Nissan Leaf, which uses 480 volts at Level 3, can go from a 20 percent charge to 80 percent in less than 30 minutes.

California, Oregon, and Washington set plans into motion in 2009 to turn I-5 into an Electric Highway.

This is the first major section of the West Coast highway to be outfitted with that many charging stations along a single route.