By Eric Loveday · March 27, 2013

If you are a range-anxious electric vehicle owner in the Seattle area, then perhaps it's time to switch your insurance to AAA.

The American Automobile Association (AAA) last week deployed its first Level 3 roadside charging truck in Seattle. As PluginCars.com reported in August 2011, AAA’s John Nielsen proposed this service in 2009, and initiated a one-year pilot beginning in 2011. Seattle is now one of six metropolitan areas to get one of AAA’s electric vehicle charging trucks, along with Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Knoxville, and Orlando.

Given relatively well-built public EV charging infrastructure in Seattle, it's likely that a stranded EV in the Seattle will require no more than about 15 miles of range to reach the nearest charging station. AAA said the typical emergency charge would last less than 10 minutes, and provide about 3 to 5 miles of range. This service is free to AAA members.

Nielsen only expects that AAA in Seattle will receive about 20 calls a year. The charge-enabled trucks will otherwise perform standard daily roadside assistance for gas-powered cars.

Janice Connolly, a Nissan LEAF driver from Mercer Island, was the first to use the truck. “It buys a lot of security, because they can get you off the highway and on the road,” she said.