If you're driving an electric car, the last thing you want to see is 30 miles left on your battery with 50 miles to go on your trip.
Now many electric motorists can put aside much of that "range anxiety" on trips from Tucson to Phoenix.
Last weekend, electric vehicle enthusiasts celebrated the installation of the first "fast charger" system just off Interstate 10 at Picacho Peak, allowing EVers with the right hookups to quickly juice up between Phoenix and the Old Pueblo.
The DC fast-charging system was part of a multilevel charging system installed by Mesa-based GOe3 at the Picacho Shell service station, on the east side of I-10 at Exit 219.
It's the first public rapid-charging station in Southern Arizona, and the first to offer both Japanese standard and new American standard plug-ins.
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So-called Level 3 electric vehicle fast-charge units can juice up an electric vehicle in 15 to 45 minutes, compared with Level 2 home and public charging units that take about eight hours to fully recharge.
To take advantage of fast charging, an EV must be equipped with the proper plug-in port and supporting electronics.
Local EV enthusiast Jerry Asher called the installation of the fast charger at Picacho the "Lithium-ion spike" in the Green Cactus Highway - his name for a cross-state EV corridor - like completion of the Transcontinental Railroad.
Asher paid extra for a fast-charge option on his 2011 Nissan Leaf, which has a nominal range of 100 miles but only gets 70 miles or so on the highway or up hilly expanses.
Now Asher - a member of the Tucson Electric Vehicle Association 2 (TEVA2) known as "EV Jerry" - can quickly "top off" his battery at Picacho.
"Now, I can go up (I-10) 28 miles and get a soda or something," during a quick charge, Asher said. "We have this way of covering a lot more of the state, making electric vehicles much more usable."
Whether he could make it all the way to Phoenix from Picacho depends on exactly where in the vast Phoenix area he plans to travel, but Asher said he'd plan on stopping for a Level 2 charge at an outlet mall in Casa Grande.
In a few months, perhaps, Asher will be able to get a fast charge just where he needs it.
Bruce Brimacombe, founder and CEO of GOe3, said the company is planning to install 25 fast-charge stations on major highways across Arizona, including at least five more up I-10 and I-17 to Flagstaff in early 2013.
"What we're trying to do is to put these in where people drive, not make them drive to some dealer behind a fence," Brimacombe said.
The company's long-range plans are to install fast chargers along I-40 and I-95 by mid-2014, he said.
At last count, the Tucson area had about 75 public EV-charging stations, most of which were installed as part of the federally subsidized EV Project.
But GOe3 is unsubsidized, financed by private investors, Brimacombe said, adding that he's confident his company will succeed by filling an unmet, and perhaps growing, need as fast-charging hookups become more standard.
GOe3's chargers also are the first to have plugs for both the Japanese standard and a new standard recently approved by the Society of Automotive Engineers International (SAE), he said.
The fast-charging system is standard on the 2012 Nissan Leaf (an option on prior models) and the pricey Tesla Model S (optional on the $50,000 model, included on the larger-battery $60,000 model). The Mitsubishi MiEV also can take a quick charge, using the same Japanese standard connector.
Ford's Focus Electric doesn't allow DC fast-charging, but Ford says its Level 2 hookup charges twice as fast as others due to a higher charger wattage.
At Saturday's grand opening event at Picacho, the company's chargers juiced up several kinds of EVs. GOe3's installation also includes Level 2 charging options.
GOe3's charging fees vary by vehicle and charging type. It costs $5 to fast-charge a Nissan Leaf or cars with similar charging systems, and $13 to charge a Tesla, which draws more power for up to 300 miles a charge. Level 2 charging is available for $2 per hour.
"We were able to charge all different types - that was the fun thing," Brimacombe said.
Colleen Crowninshield, manager of the Tucson Clean Cities Program at the Pima Association of Governments, called the fast-charge installation a major milestone and the first step in building "Arizona's electric vehicle highway."
"This will give (EV drivers) assurance that they can drive the distance between Tucson and Phoenix," she said.
Contact Assistant Business Editor David Wichner at dwichner@azstarnet.com or 573-4181.
