German manufacturers Volkswagen->ke94 and BMW->ke178 joined forces with the California-based ChargePoint Inc. to expand the electric->ke3364-vehicle infrastructure throughout the U.S., and this blitzkrieg has borne fruit in the form of two new major EV charging networks within two of the most heavily traveled corridors on the East and West coast.

The Express Charging Corridors Initiative announced on the 13th of September, 2016, the addition of 95 new public charging stations meant to support EV travel from Portland, Oregon to San Diego, California, out West and from Boston, Massachusetts, to Washington, D.C., down East. These are DC, fast-charge stations set at 50-mile increments along the main highway with additional stations on the branches that feed traffic to the local places-to-be-and-see, so suddenly EV touring is a thing.

Continue reading for more information on the new charging stations.

Why This Matters

This is a major break-through for the EV market because we already have proven electric vehicles of several types on the road, but until we have the infrastructure to support it, it will never go mainstream. I can't help but notice that it's a pair of foreign-based entities working to improve the EV infrastructure on U.S. soil, and as much fun as it would be to crack wise about VW trying to score green points after the whole emissions debacle, this was in motion long before that was exposed and so is unrelated. I think the takeaway here is that BMW and VW may be immune to pressure from the powerful big-oil lobby in the U.S. that would see EV technology quashed and shelved.

Thanks a bunch, Beemer and VW, we really mean it!