Oregon Shows Electric Vehicles Some Love

The electric vehicle sector got a big boost from Oregon recently as the state reported big plans for its I-5 expressway. The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODoT) announced a project to create the countries first “Green Highway”, by retrofitting I-5 to support EV transportation. The 150 mile span, which stretches from San Diego to Vancouver, will be outfitted with eight different charging stations at rest stops. This will help alleviate some of the range anxiety associated with EV's. This project is the first of its kind in the United States and could lead to more states adding EV infrastructure to their highways. For investors, that means adding AeroVironment

. Aside from those fancy unmanned drones protecting our service men, AeroVironment is one of the leading producers of charging equipment for EV's. The company's high powered Level 3 fast charging stations can recharge an all-electric vehicle from a fully-discharged state in less than 30 minutes. This quick recharging time is one of the reasons ODoT choose AVAV for the project. AeroVironment expects to have the charging stations installed by the fall of 2011. As more people adopt electric vehicles, the country could see more “green highways” and boost AeroVironment's bottom line.