'Electric Highway' will allow Reno-to-Vegas trips

Make room information superhighway. There's another new kind of highway that's joining the mix.

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 possible to drive between Reno and Las Vegas with an electric vehicle (EV).

"We've all driven this road before and have anxiety (even) with getting gas," said Sandoval, eliciting chuckles from the crowd. "Now we can have confidence to charge our electric vehicles and drive them from place to place (in Nevada)."

The state has 150 charging stations installed so far and the Nevada Electric Highway initiative will kick off by adding five more by November. What makes those five stations especially crucial is where they'll be located. In addition to connecting the northern and southern parts of the state for electric vehicle owners, the Electric Highway is also expected to link rural areas and bring business to those communities from EV owners who make the stop to charge their cars.

"It's wonderful for rural tourism," Sandoval said. "It's the future (and) this is just the beginning."

So far, the state says it is looking for community partners in rural areas such as Fallon, Hawthorne, Tonopah, Beatty and Indian Springs. Potential sites include businesses near U.S. Route 95 that are willing to host the charging stations, which will be installed for free by NV Energy. Host sites must agree to let consumers use the stations at no charge for at least five years and make them available for 24 hours. Interested parties have until July 10 to apply. Each charging station will come with two Level 2 chargers that can charge vehicles in several hours plus one Direct Current or DC Fast Charger that can juice up compatible vehicles in less than an hour.

The charging stations can be expensive, costing $6,000 for a basic version and even more for those that feature fast charging, according to NV Energy. The Nevada Electric Highway is a public-private partnership program that is funded jointly by the state and NV Energy and does not tap into the state's general fund. The program also shows how far Nevada's efforts with EVs has come since it installed its first public charging station in 2011, said NV Energy president and CEO Paul Caudill.

"(Since 2013) we've doubled the charging capacity of the state," Caudill said.

There are currently about 1,400 electric vehicles registered in Nevada, according to NV Energy. This latest public-private initiative in the state will hopefully encourage more Nevadans to buy electric vehicles and help reduce emissions for the state as a whole in the future, Caudill added. An estimated 90 percent of the petroleum imported into Nevada is used for transportation, said Paul Thomsen, director of the Governor's Office of Energy.

The creation of the Nevada Electric Highway is just another step in the goal of reducing the state's dependence on fossil fuels while helping further diversify its economy by becoming a player in the new energy economy, Thomsen said. Solar and geothermal, two green energy sources Nevada is rich in, are now able to compete with traditional fossil fuels in the utility market, for example, Caudill said. The state is also working with Tesla Motors to help increase the number of Tesla fast chargers in the state as well. Tesla chose Northern Nevada last year as the site of its $5 billion gigafactory.

Meanwhile, being able to link Northern Nevada with Las Vegas through a charging station network is a big deal for the state not just from an economic perspective but in terms of cultivating an environmentally friendly image as well, Caudill added.

"It's close to a 7 1/2-hour drive and one day, you'll be able to do it with an electric vehicle," Caudill said.

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To learn more about the Nevada Electric Highway, including how to apply, visit: https://nvenergy.com/EV