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(Nevada Electric Highway) Great EV charger news from Nevada - 16 June 2015

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AudubonB

One can NOT induce accuracy via precision!
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Mar 24, 2013
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This out of the Reno Gazette-Journal: The state is backing the placement of EV chargers along the 7 1/2 hour run between Las Vegas and Reno. NV Energy will install, at no cost to hosts, fast chargers to those enterprises who agree to make them available at no cost to motorists for at least five years. I love what Gov. Sanodval said about that drive - I've emboldened it in the news snip below:


Gov. Brian Sandoval and NV Energy unveiled the Nevada Electric Highway on Tuesday, a network of charging stations planned along U.S. Route 95 that would finally make it far easier to drive sparsely populated, mostly desert route between Reno and Las Vegas with an electric vehicle.
Though only about 1,400 electric vehicles are registered in Nevada, the state has been paying close attention to EVs lately because of Tesla Motors. The electric-car maker is building its giant battery "gigafactory" outside of Reno. So the state's fortunes will be tied to the success of electric cars.
Officials thought making charging easy along the only major highway connecting the state's two largest cities would be a good place to start.
"We've all driven this road before and have anxiety (even) with getting gas," said Sandoval. "Now we can have confidence to charge our electric vehicles and drive them from place to place (in Nevada)."

Source: Nevada creating 'electric highway' for EVs

There are to be a minimum of two Level 2 chargers and one DC fast charger per site; the article said they also are working with Tesla to increase the number of SpCs - but no specific mention of them along this stretch of road.

Now if Nevada can apply the same initiative to my favorite road in that state - Rte. 93 along its eastern border - I'll be a very happy person.
 
There is no point in having level 2 chargers on an "Electric Highway" unless they are placed where drivers are expected to stay overnight. As for the one DC fast charger per site, it sounds more like the potential for an electric parking lot than an electric highway
 
I understand the second point you make, BUT - the several times I've driven it that road rivals the Denali Highway for its lack of traffic; also, the initiative does have to offer some kinds of incentives to the hosts, like getting EV drivers to drop some shekels at that establishment. As far as your first point - is it also valid from a non-Tesla perspective? I'm not familiar with the charging abilities of "baby" EVs - can they make use only of Level 2 type charging, perhaps?
 
Allstays shows a few RV campgrounds along Highway 95 that are surprisingly not on plugshare. Same with Highway 50. But yeah, DC FC capability would be really nice. I've driven both 95 and 50 numerous times back in the 1980s, and there wasn't much out there. Beautiful in its own right though - if you can appreciate the desert landscapes and isolation.

Back in the olden days, Highway 95 used to be a "reasonable and proper" road with no speed limits. Apparently there was a long standing and informal competition doing the Reno<->Vegas "cannonball".
 
There is no point in having level 2 chargers on an "Electric Highway" unless they are placed where drivers are expected to stay overnight. As for the one DC fast charger per site, it sounds more like the potential for an electric parking lot than an electric highway
I disagree. Since they are putting a single DCFC at each site, you need the L2 stations too, just in case the DCFC is broken. With no L2, you're completely stranded or at least grubbing for a NEMA outlet somewhere within your remaining range.
 
I get that people are cautious, but this is great news. I've done RV park charging on 95 and this will be a huge improvement. For a relatively small investment (~$250k) they are opening up the long route between Nevada's two biggest cities. Death Valley will be more accessible from Vegas and Reno <--> Vegas will be possible in one semi-long day. The only options before were to stop over 2 or 3 nights to charge, or take the long way around through California, or fly and rent an ICE (I can't decide which part I like better about that option: having my rights violated by TSA or spending hundreds of unnecessary dollars to support Big Oil).

We all know that Tesla's 2016 SC map probably won't be finished in 2016, so the route is opening up 2 years earlier than expected.

To address some of the concerns here:
1. There are only 1400 EVs registered in Nevada, so I don't think there's much risk of it turning into an 'electric parking lot.'
2. There are RV parks along the way, so even if an entire charger goes down, you aren't likely to get stranded. The chargers will be spaced close enough so that an 85 would never need to get below 30%.

The downside is that you'll need the CHAdeMO adapter and it won't be quite as fast as a supercharger.

Still, I hope to drive this route the day it opens up. Or better yet, I'll let the car drive it for me. :)