Indy Video: Electric vehicle charging station installed on highway linking Las Vegas to Southern California
It’s about to become a little less risky for electric car owners to make the lengthy desert drive between Las Vegas and Southern California.
On Thursday, state lawmakers joined with officials from the Governor’s Office of Energy and NV Energy to open a new electric car charging station in Jean, Nevada — a tiny outpost south of Las Vegas best known for its many casinos and the largest Chevron station in the world.
It’s part of an initiative called the Nevada Electric Highway, which was launched in 2015 by former Gov. Brian Sandoval as a way to expand electric car infrastructure throughout the state and to reduce “range anxiety,” which comes when drivers fear their car battery will die in a remote area.
The charging facility in Jean is the first to be installed on the busy Interstate 15, which brings tourists from Southern California to Las Vegas. Additional charging stations on the highway are planned in Primm, Moapa and Mesquite.
Prior to the Jean charging station, most of the stations installed through the program were placed in communities along U.S. 95 between Reno and Las Vegas, with facilities placed in Fallon, Hawthorne, Tonopah and Beatty.